


We're not born to be normal

by pixie0235



Category: The Boyz (Korea Band)
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Childhood Friends, Childhood Trauma, Confident Kim Younghoon, Fluff and Angst, Kings & Queens, M/M, Mutant Powers, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Slow Burn, Sunwoo is annoying, The Boyz are learning
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-28
Updated: 2021-03-04
Packaged: 2021-03-10 00:49:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 11
Words: 32,732
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27765511
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pixie0235/pseuds/pixie0235
Summary: Sunwoo was taught a lot of things back at Creker, but how to act when a group of overexcited boys try to take him back to their 'institute' and basically bash his head in while doing it? He doesn't think Creker even imagined that that could happen in their wildest dreams.Oh well, they probably hadn't expected him to escape either, but here he was. Now if these guys would just let him leave in peace so he could find his family, everything would be great. But of course the universe hates him and nothing ever goes his way, ever.
Relationships: Bae Joonyoung | Jacob/Moon Hyungseo | Kevin, Choi Chanhee | New/Ji Changmin | Q, Heo Hyunjoon | Hwall/Lee Jaehyun | Hyunjae/Lee Juyeon, Kim Sunwoo/Kim Younghoon (The Boyz)
Comments: 54
Kudos: 77
Collections: PERFECT





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> So here's my first work in this fandom and my first mutant AU!! Hope you guys like it!

He did _not_ need this right now.

It was bad enough he had use his curse to steal some food from a very nice old couple, and now he was being followed. He didn't know if it was Creker or one of their allies, all he knew is that they would never catch him again, not if he had any say in it.

He put the hood of his oversized hoodie up and kept his head down, taking a turn towards the main street. If they didn't even try to attack him on this moderately busy street, they wouldn't dare to on a very busy street. And how many teenagers wear a black hoodie with a hood over their head nowadays? 

He hitched his backpack with, sadly, all his belongings and disappeared in the crowd. He smirked the tiniest bit as he felt the eyes burning in his back disappear. Maybe if they hadn't tried so hard to turn him into their perfect little soldier, then they would have a chance to capture him now.

His amused musings were cut short with a loud scream. Instead of flinching like every human around him, he simply looked around to see if he could find the source. It did sound close by, but he still needed to find a place to sleep for tonight and try to contact his mom again.

He did walk over when he heard other voices screaming at someone. Pity filled him as he saw an obvious mutant laying by the feet of a business man and his wife, the wife was wiping down her clothes down with a disgusted look on her face. He pitied mutants with obvious mutations, like the poor girl laying on the ground, trying in vain to hide her horns and yellow eyes. They never even had a chance in this world.

_Abomination!_

_How dare her parents even let her leave the house?_

_Isn't there a place for things like that?_

His blood boiled as he heard the humans talk around him while the man kept screaming at the girl at his feet. She kept apologizing, tears in her eyes, but he didn't seem to care. He took a quick look around, just to make sure Creker wasn't still somewhere nearby. He took his sunglasses off and blinked a few times, the darkened glasses doing their job a little too good.

But before he could do anything a boy around his age pushed himself through the crowd, followed by another two. The smallest immediately went to the girl, handing her a beanie while the other two started making loud excuses, shocking the man into silence. He frowned as he took a minor step back. Since when did mutants outside of Creker stick together?

He caught movement in his peripheral and paled when he saw a familiar blue uniform walk towards the small crowd. The mutants had about a minute at best to get away, or they would get the beating of a lifetime or a few nights in a jail cell. Maybe both.

He shot one last look towards the desperate quartet and sighed, he moved towards the back of the crowd and focused on the fast approaching policemen. He sucked in a deep breath and his field of vision enlarged, numbers and data and statistics appearing everywhere. He nearly got a headache just looking around the street.

He cursed inwardly as the percentage of them getting involved only went up the closer they got, slowly climbing up to a ninety. He pulled his hood forward, shielding his face a bit more, as he let his breath slowly flow out. His eyes burned and the numbers were slowly but surely decreasing, getting faster the longer he focused on them.

He felt dizziness sweep through him as the percentage finally dropped below a twenty, the policemen stopping just a few yards away from the crowd. They looked at each other in obvious confusion but shrugged and turned back around. A small smile tugged at his lips, even though he was almost falling over in exhaustion and hunger, he still got it. He glanced back to the group of mutants when he more felt than saw the crowd dispersing.

His gaze met the one of the small guy on the ground. He tilted his head when his eyes widened and a big grin stretched at his lips. He took a few steps back when he shot to his feet with impressive speed and jumped over to him. He stopped walking backwards when his head protested and his hand came up to rub his temple. He put his sunglasses on right as the speedy boy stopped in front of him.

"You helped us didn't you?" He more like stated, his hands gripping onto one sleeve. "Kevin said that the police were coming, but I saw you staring at them and then they just turned around!"

He tried to wrestle his sleeve free, but the energetic boy was deceptively stronger than he looked. He pulled his facemask below his nose before he started talking. "Look dude, I don't know what you think you saw, but I didn’t do shit." He said bluntly.

He clenched his jaw as he felt a familiar, and unwanted, presence in his mind. His walls flew up and he made sure the telepath or whatever the hell his mutation was felt it. Just because they had the ability to look into others minds, didn’t mean they had to use it at every opportunity!

He cursed when the black haired guy winced and looked at them. He could probably get away from one maybe two mutants if he was fast and lucky enough, but they were with four and he didn't know their mutations.

"But... I saw you do it!" Blondie insisted, tugging him back towards the little group. And everyone was looking at them now, great.

He clenched his jaw and ripped his arm away, his annoyance growing as he heard the fabric rip. "Look idiot, I don't know whatever you think you saw, but I'm not like _you_ ," the words seemed to hit home as the guy flinched, "and I'm not about to be pulled into this shitshow when I have my own to run. Bye Blondie." He spat. He stomped down the guilt bubbling deep in his stomach. It was better to be mean and scare them away then let innocent people get involved.

He shoved his hands into the front pocket of his hoodie as he tried to slip away. He clenched his jaw and gripped onto one of his knives as he was pulled backwards by his elbow. Annoying Blondie was still trying.

"Eric, come on, he doesn't want our he-" the dark blue haired guy moved forward, tugging at his wrist.

Blondie, or Eric, ignored him and looked in his eyes with burning passion in his eyes. How cute, he was trying to play hero for him. "I don't know who you are, but you're like us," he didn't give him the chance to dispute, "and don't even think about trying to deny it, your eyes glowed." His mouth shut with an audible click that seemed to throw Blondie off for a second. The raven haired had moved closer in the meantime, _Kevin,_ his mind helpfully supplied.

"We have a place where people like us can be free, practice our gifts like we were meant to do and learn just like the human kids." He couldn't help the scoff that escaped him. There was no place like that, and if there were then Creker would have destroyed them all. "I'm serious! You could live there and be a normal kid."

His face smoothed out, his annoyed amusement disappearing. He felt the other two move closer, the girl seemingly already left. Someone like him could never be normal. Creker made sure of that. He ripped his arm away yet again and turned around.

His remaining patience snapped as he felt the damn presence trying to slip into his mind again. He whirled around while slamming his walls down, making sure the damn idiot would really feel it this time. His gaze zeroed in on the raven haired guy, rubbing his temples. He walked up to him and got in his face, ripping his sunglasses off.

He made his eyes glow as the guy stared at him in slight fear, but he held his ground. "Stay the fuck outta my head before I do something I might just regret." He spat. He ignored his wide eyes and whirled around when he felt damn Blondie come closer again.

"And you, stay the hell away from me, I'm not made to be normal." He hissed before stomping away, disappearing in the crowd before they could grab him again.


	2. cheat sheet

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is basically some information so that you guys understand the story a little better, since it won't really get explained much in the story because it's common knowledge there

The government issued levels for mutants, on how dangerous they are. It used to get tattooed on the child when they started manifesting their mutations, but it got forbidden as humans found it inhumane, even for mutants. Now they just get registered by the government and have it displayed on their ID.

Level 1: minor enhancement or power; a minor version of a power that isn’t really a strength, these mutants never have any physical mutations and are most likely to pass as humans.

Level 2: major enhancement or power; the stronger versions of the level 1 mutants, in this category there can be minor physical mutations.

Level 3: elemental control; control of one of the four elements or other like electricity. This category and beyond has the hardest time to get a job or even live in the human world, as humans are scared of these mutants. From this category on there can be major physical mutations.

Level 4: hybrids; this is a newer category. This level was installed when children, instead of just manifesting one power from the mother or father’s side, they somehow got both. Although one mutation is always weaker, secondary.

Level 5: other; these mutants have rare powers that most of the time have apocalyptic proportions. They’re either shipped of the rural towns or kept in facilities where the government can keep a close eye on them.


	3. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hope you guys enjoy it!!

“Why are we even looking for this guy?” Hyunjae complained. “He threatened Kevin _and_ Eric in case any of you forgot!”

Sangyeon sighed loudly and whacked him in the back of the head. Eric didn’t even hide his laugh at Hyunjae’s glare. “ _Because_ hyung,” Eric started again, like he hadn’t already told him a _million times_ , “he needs our help, and you know what the principal always says.” He sped up and walked backwards in front of him, clearing his throat. “ _We help those who cannot help themselves_.” He said in a too deep voice. He smiled at the laughs around him.

“You _know_ that’s not how he meant it.” Hyunjae muttered sourly, just loud enough for him to hear.

He blew a raspberry his way before turning to Juyeon. “Are we close yet hyung?”

He ignored the groans around him and sped out of the way of Sangyeon smacking _him,_ and appeared next to Juyeon, who didn’t even seem phased by the sudden wind blowing his air everywhere. Well, perks of being with Eric for a long time, he guesses.

“We actually are, I think it’s the last building on this street.” Juyeon pointed ahead to a large warehouse.

Why Glowy Eyes decided to choose a warehouse over a homeless shelter was beyond him, but he was kinda happy he didn’t. If he did he would have to somehow convince the guy himself and something told him _that_ wouldn’t go well. And the face Hyunjae pulled when Sangyeon decided to look for him was literally the best, he regretted not bringing his phone with him. Sangyeon said that now that they were out, they better do something worthwhile with it, since they were getting punished one way or another now anyway.

Juyeon and Hyunjae held him back with practiced ease before he could speed away, and he was turned around to see Chanhee’s annoyed face. “Ya! Stop with the damn speeding and let us make some sort of plan first!” He scolded.

He sheepishly nodded as the duo let go of him, leaving him with Younghoon instead. He let out a quiet huff that his hyung only answered with an amused look, throwing an arm around him and effectively locking him into place.

“Alright,” Sangyeon clapped his hand as they formed a loose circle around him, “Kevin, Juyeon, Eric, do any of you have any idea what he can do?”

Kevin raised his hand. “I suspect it’s something more mental than physical, because Eric didn’t see him touch the policemen when he somehow stopped them.”

“Another telepath?” Changmin gasped.

“I don’t think so…,” he held his chin between his pointer finger and thumb, “I would have sensed him if he was-“

“Alright, so we’re probably dealing with a level one mutant, shouldn’t be too hard.” Younghoon summarized, his shoulders relaxed. His arm was in fact not relaxed, Eric noted in muted irritation, wound tight around Eric’s shoulders.

“A level _one_ mutant can’t shut me out of his mind before I even got in.” Kevin snarked, peeved he was interrupted.

“ _Alright!_ ” Sangyeon said loudly, “So we do this with caution. Juyeon and Hyunjae take the outside, see if they can spot him from there. Me, Younghoon, Hyunjoon, Jacob and Haknyeon take the inside and see if we can find him. Eric, Kevin, Chanhee, and Changmin stay outside if he tries to get away. If you need help give a yell and don’t lose your cool. This isn’t a enemy, this is a hurt mutant who’s live has probably not been that great for some time now. Okay,” he took one look around the now tight circle, “everyone, hands!”

Eric couldn’t contain his giddy smile as he joined. They were a team for about a year now, have known each other even longer, but it never got old.

“Everyone remember, this guy is one of us. And we-“

“ _We don’t hurt our people_.” Everyone finished.

Sangyeon looked around the circle with a proud smile before yelling a loud “Fighting!” and pushing their hands downwards. Everyone followed before spreading out.

~

“Still nothing.” Kevin reported, opening his eyes.

Chanhee’s eye ticked as Eric groaned, escaping from Changmin’s grasp once again to speed around them. It wasn’t _his_ fault alright?! High metabolism came with superspeed, and with superspeed came whole lotta energy to burn.

“Someone just knock him out, we’ll tell Sangyeon he ran into the wall again, just make him stop.” Chanhee whined, pouting at Changmin. Changmin looked tempted to do it, watching Eric jump in one place so fast he was one big loud blur.

Kevin pinched the bridge of his nose. “It’s been three years since that last happened. Sangyeon is gullible, not stupid.”

Changmin sighed as he pulled a still pouting Chanhee in his arms. “Then please let him join one of the other teams, I can’t handle him right now.”

Changmin shot Eric an apologetic look and mouthed ‘tired’ at him. He made a face in understanding, it was nearing midnight and they had training earlier today. maybe he should’ve waited until tomorrow to look for him, but then he might’ve skipped town already and then they couldn’t help him! Chanhee would just have to live with missing his beauty sleep for one night.

Kevin sighed but nodded, not in the mood to deal with an energetic speedster either. “I’ll talk to them, gimme a sec.” He pointedly ignored the sudden wind and puppy eyes directed at him.

Eric hopped from one leg to the other, conscious not to use more than the regular speed. He really didn’t want to make his hyungs annoyed, but meeting new people was always so exciting! And learning about their mutations even more so!

Kevin opened his eyes and made a grand gesture towards the ginormous front doors. “They’re all gathered inside for one final sweep, tell them that I feel a faint presence but I’m not sure it’s our guy. We’ll wait out here for you guys.”

Eric nodded before sprinting away, thankful Kevin chose to give him directions mentally. He probably would have found the guys soon enough, but the sentiment was nice.

He skidded to a stop right next to Haknyeon and Hyunjoon, who shot him amused smiles. “Already annoyed the crap out of Chanhee?”

He smiled innocently and went to find their leader, leaving a laughing Haknyeon behind. Turns out Sangyeon wasn’t even that far away, just around the corner, talking with Jacob.

“What’s the plan?”

They looked up as he interrupted their conversation, but they luckily didn’t seem to mind much. “Juyeon and Hyunjae turned into rats to take one last look near the ceiling and Younghoon is down there in case one of them falls. If he’s not there we’re going home.” Jacob explained.

“But Kevin said he-“

He cut himself off at Sangyeon’s look, biting his lip and deflating the slightest bit. He _knew_ that he was pushing it, they weren’t allowed to leave campus without permission and they were supposed to set a good example, but this was why the principle made these teams anyway! The principle was always going on about helping everyone, especially the people who were less fortunate. What screamed less fortunate than a young kid with hollowed out cheeks who probably lives on the streets?!

“Sangyeon-hyung! Juyeon and Hyunjae are coming down, they’re saying there’s no-“

Younghoon was cut off by a scream that sounded like it came straight out of a horror movie. A flailing figure soon followed, falling from a high ledge near the ceiling.

He watched, his body frozen in shock, as the figure hit the ground with a deafening _crack_ , just missing Younghoon’s outstretched hands. He paled when he recognized a familiar black hoodie.

~

He was having a terribly bad week- you know what? Scratch that. He was having terribly bad last few _months_. He shifted the slightest bit closer to the warm vent just above him. He didn’t want to risk going to one of the centers around when he just used his powers in public, like a complete idiot. Using his powers in public like that was basically waving a big red flag around, almost begging for Creker to find him.

He was just on the brink of the sweet release of sleep when he sensed a rather big group, heading in straight line for him. He was about to let it go when they stopped a few warehouses away from his, maybe just another group of junkies trying to secure a good smoking spot or whatever the fuck they use these days.

But then the group branched off into smaller groups, surrounding the entire warehouse, _his_ entire warehouse. He held back his rising panic and forced himself to take in a deep breath and closed his eyes, ignoring his steadily getting worse headache. He knew he shouldn’t rely on his powers so much, especially in his state, but he couldn’t risk whoever was down there finding him.

~~Creeker finally found him and were going to take him back and force him~~ -

He pinched his wrist, forcing himself out of his spiraling thoughts. It was over for him if he started panicking. His breath left him more shakily then he would’ve liked, but it did the job. The familiar numbers, data and graphics showed up, making the pounding in his head near unbearable. His eyes burned as he ignored everything else and looked only at his own options, making the likeliness of him being found just below a ten percent. He knew he should make sure the other people couldn’t find him some other way, but if he pushed himself now he knew he was gonna pass out again. And he really didn’t feel like falling a 20 something feet today.

He closed his eyes again, clutching his backpack to his chest as he curled up. He let his senses reach out, trying to gauge with how many they were. A shaky breath left him as he counted five people inside alone, he paled when he counted another six outside. He had to hope that the universe would give him just a tiny break and that the group would just move on without finding him. Because he couldn’t even fight off a homeless guy in this state, let alone eleven youngish people.

He relaxed the slightest bit when they seemed to be searching everywhere except near the ceiling, near him. His eyes started dropping when people started to leave, if they could just hurry up a little bit he could finally sleep, a well deserved sleep mind you. He stiffened when he heard familiar scurrying.

_Oh **hell** no._

He always made sure there were no _damn_ rats wherever he settled down for the night. His sore muscles protested as he tensed them up even further, hearing a male voice shout something almost directly beneath him. His eyes shot open when he heard a loud squeak. His neck snapped as he whirled his eyes towards the terrible sound, coming eye-to-eye with the fattest rat he had ever seen.

_Huh, I’ve never heard of blue rats before_. He thought to himself before screeching and flailing away. But he forgot one little, tiny thing. _He had hid himself on the highest damn ledge he could find_.

Instead of trying to grab anything to hold onto, his muscles would probably fail him if he tried stand, he turned his eyesight towards the ground and quickly forced his lungs to take in the deepest breath they could. He barely kept the panic at bay as his eye-sight bettered, his pounding headache almost unnoticeable in that moment. Adrenaline was truly a wondrous thing. He found comfort in his familiar messy hand writing, the whitish almost translucent words flickering in and out of existence.

_Impact ratio; high 83/17%_

_Injury rate; high 85/15%_

_Survival rate; high 73/26%_

His breath escaped him almost too quickly and he barely managed to changed his impact and survival rate. He brought his hand up to the back of his neck and tried to pull his legs in, but he was out of time.

_Crack!_

He groaned the tiniest bit as the cement cracked beneath him, maybe he fucked his impact ratio a little too much. He coughed and sat, slowly getting on his feet. He let out the quietest sigh in relief when there were no shots of agony throughout his body, he hadn’t broken his legs. He doubled over when he straightened out however, guess the same couldn’t be said for his ribs.

His hand reacted faster than his mind ever could, grasping the knives hidden just beneath his waist and throwing them with pin-point accuracy towards the two people getting too close to him.

His ribs screamed when he jumped out of the way of a sudden wave of cold, he turned around and saw a rather large wall of ice stand between him and his targets, his knives stuck in the ices right in front of their shell-shocked expressions. Instead of gaping at the wall of ice like any normal person would do, he just ran for the exit.

He bit back a curse as three more people stood in between him and the exit. He slipped out his knives and threw again.

He hid his shock as a head of blonde hair pushed the other two and himself out of the way at an impressive speed. _Wait… blonde? You **gotta** be kidding me_

He abruptly stopped and turned around, his panic and fear turning into unadulterated anger.

“What the _fuck_ , Blondie!?” He ripped his facemask off when his head popped up, a sheepish expression on his stupid face.

“Oh, uhm, hi dude…” He squeaked out, reminding him so much of the damn rat that he had to hold back a shiver.

His arm came up to clutch around his torso, as if he could magically will his cracked ribs to heal while he continued yelling. “What the hell don’t you understand about ‘stay the hell away from me’?! Are you deaf!? Do you not understand the words coming out of my mouth?!” His screams echoed around the large room and he couldn’t find it in himself to care. He had to shake this guy now, or he would keep following him and-

He ran a hand down his face and resisted the urge to pace, his ribs still throbbing.

“We just want to help you…!” His words got quieter at Sunwoo’s face.

He raised one eyebrow, standing straight and his voice colder than the ice melting a few feet away. “And where did you get the indication I needed the help?”

He hid his surprise as the guy got up and marched right up to him, apparently suddenly unaffected by his glare. He bit his lip to hold back a scream as he jabbed his finger right into his ribcage. “Maybe from your dirty clothes who look like they’ve heard the words ‘washing machine’ before? Or maybe the hollowed out cheeks gave it away? Or, oh!, the fact that you look like you’re about to pass out!” Eric yelled back, pushing him backwards with each example.

He slapped the offending hand away and got in his face. “Stay the fuck away from me. This is your last warning, Blondie.” He spat out, turning around and walking as fast as could towards the exit, which was really not that fast now that the adrenaline was slowly fading away.

There was a small scuffle but Eric continued yelling.

“Why are you so _goddamn_ stubborn?!” He ignored him, focusing vehemently on the doors and not on the annoying blonde following his snail pace. “I don’t get why you’re so against it?! What do you have against a warm place to sleep at night and warm meals at set times or whenever you want it?! Hell you might even make some _friends_ if you just leave here _with_ us!”

He was pretty sure his lip was bleeding when _another_ guy gently pulled on his elbow, thankfully not the one around his torso. He wished he had the strength to pull his arm back, but his vision was already turning fuzzy on the edges.

“What?” He knew he sounded tired, but he just wanted to get away and sleep.

He was turned around and surprisingly sympathetic eyes met his. “Look, Eric just wants you to be okay.” He couldn’t help the little scoff that escaped him. “We aren’t asking you to come live with us, we’re just asking you to come with us and get a good night’s sleep and maybe some food if you want it. if you really don’t want to, we won’t like it, but we’ll leave you alone. Just think about it before immediately trying to run.”

He clenched his jaw and looked down. The offer was so incredible tempting, but he couldn’t risk it. This time not even for himself, but the boys around him. He could tell they were good guys, some more annoying than others, but still good. And they obviously had a safe place for mutants, and Creker would destroy it if they found it. It wouldn’t be the first time.

He looked up and the sympathetic guy in front of him deflated at the look on his face. He would _not_ lead Creker right to their safe place.

“I’m sorry, but I really can’t.” he willed away the burning in his eyes as he went to turn around.

“What the hell is are you so _scared_ of?! What’s so wrong with being _normal_?!”

He flinched at the words, ignoring the worried look the nice guy was shooting him as he brushed past him. He geared his fist back, completely done with the blonde, when a big wall of ice shot up out of nowhere, forcing him backwards.

He distantly recalled the doors slamming opening behind him, panicked yelling following soon after. The nice guy was yelling too, quickly running towards him.

“Younghoon, don’t!-“ Was his only warning as he was roughly tackled to the ground, the back of his head hitting the ground with a loud _crack_.

The last thing he registered was incoherent yelling and ice cold eyes peering down at him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And english is not my first language, so if you see any mistakes please tell me, i'll correct it when i start editing.
> 
> Please leave a comment if you liked it!!


	4. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which;  
> Sunwoo is a little shit.
> 
> The Boyz are gullible. 
> 
> And the professor is just happy to keep spectating.

His head hurt.

His head hurt _a lot_.

He frowned as he tried to recall _why_ his head hurt. He let his senses spread out almost instinctually as he tried to remember what the hell happened to him. He registered a few people outside of his room, but was too tired to even guess the number.

He opened his eyes as awareness beckoned him back to the land of living. He scrunched his brows as everything that happened last night slowly came flooding back. No wonder his head hurt, the ice freak had tackled him like they were in goddamn football game. If it even was last night, he didn’t know for how long he was out. He pushed down the panic and irritation at how easily they took him, and what they wanted from him now.

He turned off his heart monitor when it started beeping faster, betraying his frazzled state. He paused, his eyes on the doorknob and breathed a quiet sigh of relief when it didn’t move.

He pushed the scratchy blanket off of him and sat up, his feet on the pleasantly warm wooden floor as he looked around the room. He was surprised to see he _wasn’t_ in a clinical white room. Dear god knows he’s seen too many of those. He stayed sitting when his ribs faintly protested at his moving and instead took a look around the room, taking inventory.

 _Take care of your surroundings, then escape._ One of his instructors old voices resonated through his mind.

A wooden door seemed to blend into the walls, just a shade darker than the floor. There was a largish cabinet beside his bed and a little table he could slide onto the bed if needed, probably for meals. A large window illuminated the whole room with soft sunlight, the white see through drapes pulled in front of it futilely trying to keep the room darkened. There was a stool beside his bed, which looked more used than anything in the whole room, and clashed terribly with the woody exterior of the room. He guessed someone must have just put it here recently, maybe to keep watch over him.

He couldn’t push down his panic when he remembered who used the chair last.

_He opened his eyes, staring at a wooden ceiling and frowned in confusion. Didn’t he choose an old warehouse as his cover? He tilted his head and immediately regretted it, a sharp pulse of pain shooting through his body. His ribs ached but it was nothing compared to the pain radiating from the back of his head. When did he hit his head?_

_He groaned and tried to sit up. He opened his eyes slightly when a hand gently pushed him down. A blurry figure was halfway out of what he assumed was a chair, his blonde hair almost paining his eyes as the sun made it shine brilliantly._

_“Blondie…?” He slurred out, his mouth having trouble forming the one word._

_“Just calm down Glow Eyes, everything’s going to be alright okay? Just go back to sleep.” He said in soft tone, the hand on his chest moving to stroke his hair._

_He moved away to the best of his abilities, not having the mental capacity to even care about Blondie’s smile dimming. His ability came forth without him thinking about it, and he panicked when he didn’t feel the familiar burn in his eyes._

_He tried to sit up again, something beeping incessantly close by. The sleep threatening to pull him under fell away, his head, and pain, getting clearer._

_“Hey, hey-“ A familiar voice tried to soothe him._

_“What the hell did you to me?” His almost didn’t recognize his voice, shrill with panic. “You told me this was a safe place-“_

_His mouth failed him as a sudden bout of drowsiness started spreading through his body. He muscles lost their last strength and he was easily pushed back into his pillow._

_The voices trying to soothe him did the exact opposite, his headache reaching a crescendo of pain even he could not tolerate. Even **they** never took his powers from him, the one thing that was actually **his**. _

_“You told me this was a safe place.” He didn’t even know if his mouth opened, the tight grip of sleep finally pulling him under._

He opened his eyes and almost cried when he felt the familiar burn in his eyes, his sight broadening, every possibility registering in his mind with the usual accompanying data. His chicken scratch of a handwriting was never more of an comfort. He was surprised when his headache didn’t get worse, the dull thumping staying exactly the same. It had been _ages_ since he could use it without some type of pain. He frowned just the slightest bit when he couldn’t influence anything, but if he had his sight back already, that meant the rest would ~~hopefully~~ probably would come back soon. Even if he didn’t necessarily _like_ his ability, it was the only thing he ever had control over, that was only his, and he wasn’t ready to give that up.

He stood up, not even trying to walk on his own two legs, holding himself up with the wall as his crutch and slowly walked to the cabinet. His shaky legs didn’t buckle, much to his luck. He held the side of the cabinet and opened the first drawer, finding only the usual doctor stuff he couldn’t name.

He held in his groan, still conscious of the people right outside his door. He had checked all four drawers and the top cupboard, but his backpack was nowhere to be found. He glared at the mirror he didn’t notice before, hanging just behind the cabinet. They took his clothing too, together with his knives.

He frowned as he looked over his new clothes for the first time since he woke up, raising his eyebrow a little. These clothes were too big on him. Even if he was back on his regular weight, these clothes would be too big. A pair of black sweatpants with some brand on it he couldn’t be bothered to remember and a soft V-neck t-shirt. He grumpily crouched down and started rolling up the sweatpants, glad he was at least wearing a short sleeved shirt, which still almost reached his elbow.

When he was done fixing his clothes, he finally slinked over towards the window. He looked outside, seeing a large courtyard with some kind of forest at the edge of the property. He looked down and frowned. A two-story jump, he would probably break a few bones if he just decided to recklessly jump it.

He opened the window, pleased it moved without a creak and shuffled back towards the bed. Normally he would have been down already, about half way to the nearest bus station. But he wasn’t leaving without his stuff. His knives could probably be replaced if he looked hard enough, but he _needed_ his backpack back.

He smirked slightly as he looked at the blankets on his bed, shooting a short glance towards the door before picking them up.

~

He took in a deep breath, readying himself before pushing the chair, making it fall with a loud clatter. He slid under the bed without a second to spare and flinched when the door slammed open.

“Glow Eyes are you o-“ A annoyingly familiar voice shouted, cutting itself off as he took in the room.

He smirked slightly at his sharp gasp. “Eric, what’s going on?!” An unfamiliar voice shouted, steadily getting closer.

The shouting seemed to snap him out of his shock and he was in front of the window in a second, staring out of it. He tried to be unfazed by the sudden sharp wind, but his eyes still closed on instinct.

“Hyungs! Go downstairs! He made a rope ladder out of the bed sheets and escaped through the window!”

He bit on his hand to hold back his snicker, fooling people was one of the most entertaining things in the world. It got even harder to hold back when he heard dismayed screams and footsteps running away again, clearly in a hurry. Eric looked out of the window one last time before speeding away, joining his friends hopefully downstairs.

He waited a few seconds, just to be sure they all left, and slid out under the bed. He walked out of the still open door and went the opposite way of the screaming, opening doors and closing doors again when the rooms didn’t contain what he was looking for.

He cursed a little when none of the doors on this floor seemed to have what he was looking for. And he cursed the fact that this building was so big. He let his senses stretch out again as he slowly walked up the stairs, surprised that no one was upstairs. They either were really trusting people, or the guys who brought him here were especially stupid. He was betting on the second one.

He tried another few doors, his patience slowly dwindling the longer it took him find his stuff. The grand hallways and big rooms didn’t really face him, this was a vacation house compared to what he was used to.

He stopped in front of a door, the light brown a little shinier than the rest in the hallway. He looked from side-to-side, making sure no one saw him before slipping into the room, the door falling shut soundlessly behind him.

His eyes widened at the size of the room, easily twice as big as any of the rooms he had seen until now. He let his eyes slide over the numerous books on the big shelves covering two walls. The other wall was mostly made out of big windows who had drapes who actually _did_ keep the sun out. His gaze finally settled on the large desk near the back of the room, a big wooden structure with a comfortable looking chair behind. He stiffened slightly when he saw it was well used. His caution he’s carried with him since he left his room however vanished when he finally spotted his backpack.

He rushed over, opening it and quickly glancing inside. He couldn’t believe his luck when he even saw his knives, pretty much all of them there. And all his other stuff seemed mostly untouched. He smiled and zipped it up again, throwing it across his shoulder and turning around. He promptly froze.

An figure stared at him from across the room, an pleasant smile on his face.

“Why don’t you take a seat?”

~

Eric screwed up.

He was supposed to be on watch in Glow Eyes room, but he couldn’t stand to be there alone.

_You told me this was a safe place_

The words had been haunting him for days. The mutant had looked way younger in that moment, his usual scowl and cold façade nowhere to be seen, his cold and unfeeling eyes glassy and wide open in horror and his words carrying a that _betrayed_ undertone, trying to fight even when the nurse gave him the sedative. Even Jacob couldn’t calm him down before the nurse upped his doses, forcing him to sleep again.

It wasn’t a surprise that when Felix walked by, he immediately latched onto him, softly closing the door behind him. Felix was happy to distract him, complaining about Jisung and Minho’s _disgusting_ flirting. Eric just laughed at him, secretly happy Jacob and Kevin had long since passed _that_ phase.

His peace was short lived however, as right as his team walked up the stairs, a chair loudly clattered inside the room _he_ should be keeping watch in. His gaze met Sangyeon’s wide-eyed one before Eric ripped the door open, his worry leaving him in a loud shout.

He stopped short when he saw the scene in front of him, one lone thought crossing his mind.

_Hyunjae is **never** gonna let me live this down._

“Eric, what’s going on?” Sangyeon yelled, his voice getting rapidly closer. He snapped himself out of it and sped towards the window, cursing inwardly when he saw the blanket rope cascading down the side of the school.

“Hyungs! Go downstairs! He made a rope ladder out of the bed sheets and escaped through the window!” He yelled back, taking one look outside the window, hoping he could spot his figure running around somewhere. He came up empty and ran after his hyungs.

And now here they were, having searched the whole front yard and even the beginning of the forest at the edge of the estate. But Glow Eyes was nowhere to be found.

“He has to have some kind of speed or teleport mutation, Felix barely healed his ribs and his head still needed bandages until yesterday! There’s no way he could’ve gotten away from us, from _Eric_.” Haknyeon said, still trying to convince Sangyeon.

Sangyeon simple shook his head. “No Haknyeon, we screwed up and now we have to own up to it. Excuses won’t make it any better.”

Haknyeon , fully chastised, finally gave up and went to Hyunjoon for comfort, who simply raised an unimpressed eyebrow before continuing his quiet conversation with Juyeon.

He could sympathize with his youngest hyung, he got shut down by Sangyeon just moment before, when he said that could just let him go alone to the headmaster since it was his fault anyway. Sangyeon simply said a sharp _no_ and didn’t say anything else, leading the group towards the now familiar office. 

“Hyung,” Sangyeon, and pretty much everyone, turned to face Hyunjae in mild surprise, “I kinda agree with Haknyeon. The guy was pretty roughed up when we got here and there’s no way he could’ve gotten away from Eric.”

He smiled and went over to hug his for now favorite hyung, but he held up his hand and shook his head at him. Eric frowned when he saw the hand shaking. Maybe this bothered Hyunjae more than he thought.

“I was talking with Kevin about his ‘rope ladder’,” Younghoon suddenly spoke up, “and we both found it weird that it didn’t have any knots in it. He’s been out for how long now? Three days? His muscles could never get him down fast enough before Eric saw him, or he must’ve fallen down, but then we had to have heard him.”

Sangyeon breathed in deeply, turning to face Kevin and Younghoon. “So you’re saying you think he’s still inside the institute?”

Kevin was about to answer when his eyes lost focus, his mouth hanging just the slightest bit open. He snapped out of it when Jacob gently touched his elbow.

“I’m fine, the professor wants us to come in.” He said with a small smile, grabbing Jacob’s hand.

“But hyung!,” Hyunjae quickly stepped in front of the door, “You heard us, he might still be here, maybe he’s listening in on us right now!”

Sangyeon let him finish talking before picking him like he weighed nothing, which might very well be the case with his oldest hyung, and opened the door. Juyeon patted his shoulder while Hyunjoon openly smirked at him.

“That might be true, but you know we have to listen to the professor.” Sangyeon reminded him.

Eric couldn’t hold back his snickers as he walked past him with a smirking Haknyeon. He pretended he didn’t hear the low growl for his sake.

His gaze shot forward the second he stepped in the familiar office, instantly relaxing. He met the twinkling eyes of their principle, the reason his whole family and friends were safe.

“Hey professor Taemin, how has your day been.” Sangyeon asked, a pleasant smile on his face.

Even the ever cold Younghoon cracked a smile at their headmaster. His presence tended to have that effect.

“It has been good, but from what I understand yours has not been, has it Sangyeon?”

All their smiles dimmed the slightest bit. Eric stepped forward when his oldest hyung looked down. He had always hated it when they failed, but this time they didn’t all fail, no matter what he thought. This time was on him, he should’ve been in that room, on his post, but he wasn’t.

“I’m sorry professor Taemin, I was on watch but I let my guard down. It’s my fault he got away.”

He felt multiple stares burning in his back, but he was focused on Taemin. He wouldn’t let his whole team suffer from his stupid mistake. He was confused when instead of giving him a disappointed scolding and one of his original detentions, he simply chuckled.

“While I do hope you learned the valuable lesson of staying focused, he didn’t get away.”

His confusion must have been evident, because the professor’s smile widened and his gaze briefly traveled to something behind him before giving him a meaningful look. He frowned but turned around.

He was met with an amused smirk. Glow Eyes was sitting in one of the comfortable reading chairs of the professor, a large book open in his lap. While he still had a slight sunken in face, he looked marginally better than when they found him. His eyes were bright and sharp, jumping from person to person as if trying to see who was the biggest threat right now. His eyes seemed to settle on Younghoon, who had moved to cover Kevin and Chanhee.

“I was still debating on whether my little scheme was just _that_ good or if you guys are just idiots,” he drawled, his amused gaze landed on Hyunjae, who bristled at the insult, “now I just think it’s a mix of both.”

Taemin spoke before Hyunjae could retort. “The Boyz, meet Kim Sunwoo. Kim Sunwoo, meet one of my elite teams; The Boyz.” Sunwoo gave them a condescending little wave. “I was just about to ask him what his mutation was.” His gaze returned to the still amused Glo- Sunwoo.

He stared right back at the principle, tilting his head. Taemin chuckled slightly. “So Sunwoo, what is your mutation?”

Sunwoo answered with a shit eating grin on his face, leaning his chin on his opened hand, the perfect picture of relaxed. His eyes were the only thing unfitting, cold and calculating as they finally left Younghoon and settled on the professor. Somehow, even horribly outnumbered, it seemed like Sunwoo held all the cards. It very much looked like Sunwoo was a king and we his insubordinate servants. 

“I have no idea.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you guys liked it!! If you see any spelling or grammatical errors please point them out and i'll fix them when i come back to edit.
> 
> And remember, comments give me life.


	5. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which;
> 
> Sunwoo is a brat.
> 
> The professor still likes spectating.
> 
> Kevin fucks up.
> 
> Younghoon kinda (?) saves the day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ATTENTION   
> i edited the tags

Sunwoo was delighted.

The chaos that followed his little exclamation was amazing, he genuinely wished he had some way to tape it.

The easily aggravated brunet had to be held back by the ice freak and a guy with dark blue hair, eerily similar to the rat’s fur coat back at the warehouse. It didn’t stop him from yelling though. The nice guy went over to calm him down while the others started ~~yelling~~ talking over each other. Sunwoo simply leaned back in his comfortable chair and looked towards their precious professor, who didn’t even look at his elite team but only him, an odd sort of curiosity shining in his eyes.

“Young Sunwoo,” everyone quieted down at the professors words, “I simply cannot believe that.”

The smug glances from the ‘elite team’ did nothing but amuse him further. Like he cared if they believed him, the two telepaths couldn’t get into his mind now anyways, not while he was fully rested and kept his distance.

“Old professor, that’s not my problem.”

The elite team was ready to yell at him, he could almost feel their annoyance at their professor’s behalf. To his surprise the professor only needed hold up his hand to keep them quiet.

_So they actually do answer to authority, duly noted._

The professor chuckled again and stood up. His hackles immediately raised and he closed the book on his lap slowly. His hand slid down towards his pocket. He made sure to keep his posture relaxed and his face amused. _Never let enemy show that they get to you_.

He leaned against the front of his desk, uncomfortably close to his chair. He silently cursed when he sensed two people moving closer to the door. The windows were off limits, Eric and a short guy who hadn’t spoken yet standing in front of them.

The professor’s smile stayed the same, but his eyes were sharp, trying to look for a chip in his armor. “Dear Sunwoo, acting like a rude unmannered rascal is not going to make me turn you away.” He couldn’t help his eyebrow raise. “I have met many mutants like you, hurt by both human and mutants alike. To you the words are almost synonyms.” They both ignored the sharp intake of breaths, neither willing to break first and look away.

_Shut up_

He gulped, and the professors eyes flashed down to his throat before locking on his eyes again.

“If I had to guess I would say you trust no one, maybe not even your own father or mother.”

_Shut **up**_

He clenched his jaw, his hand reaching in his pocket, slowly sliding out the familiar metal.

“Maybe you never had any one to count on, terribly alone in this world. Alone in a world who doesn’t accept anything but the normal, anything but humans.”

_Shut up!_

Before the professor could open his mouth again, his hand shot out, throwing one of his favorite knives with pin point accuracy, aimed right for his stupid head.

He wheezed when he and his chair was pushed over, landing hard on his shoulder. Instead of giving in to the pain he immediately reached for his backpack, another knife ready in his right hand, crouched low to the ground.

His senses overloaded with everyone moving towards him and he just randomly threw the knife to the closest body, shooting towards the door. He hissed in pain when he was tackled right before he could reach the door, his ribs screaming in protest.

He jammed his elbow back, a satisfying _crunch_ following it, and managed to get on top, gearing his fist back. A familiar face greeted him. _Fucking Blondie._ Maybe he couldn’t get away, but he could make them hate him a little bit more before they got him again. _Oh, I’m so going to enjoy this_.

He froze when a presence pushed at his walls violently, he was already turning back around, his last knife in hands when cool fingers found his temple, breaking his walls with a mere touch.

“Kevin, _no_!-“

The chaos he so loved fell away, replaced by a sickeningly familiar sight. The grey brick walls, dull red in some places, almost made him throw up. He scrambled away from the man in front of him, a smile with too many teeth twisting his features. He barely noticed the ground he kicked was soft, or the cool fingers leaving his temples.

“Did you really think you could run from us, little prince?”

He shook his head, getting up on trembling legs. His fingers shook so much he dropped his knife. Tears blurred his sight when he saw so many more surrounding his punisher. He panicked even more when his senses wouldn’t stretch out, when his eyes wouldn’t burn. He was wholly powerless against this monster.

“N-no, I-I didn’t mean to! I-I pro- I promise Huncheol!” He stuttered out, flattening himself against the wall when he came closer, the monsters hands raised in faux peace.

He actually cried when he felt a doorknob jamming itself in his lower back, wasting no time he ripped the door open and almost flew out the door. He screamed when he was tackled again, the metal ground strangely soft. Ice cold hands tried to pin his down.

He wiggled like a worm, ignoring his pain, just trying to get away. He didn’t want to be punished again. He didn’t want to be back. He didn’t _want_ it.

He screamed even louder when he felt fingers at his temple again, babbling incoherent apologies that made no sense, even to him. He closed his eyes, trying futilely to block the telepath out. Telepaths were the worst, _always_.

“Sunwoo, snap out of it!”

He jerked his eyes open at the unfamiliar voice, coming face to face with the ice freak. He breathed heavily as he looked around, expecting to see the grey walls he so loathed. He allowed a few more tears to flow out when that wasn’t the case, his eyes scanning the warm wooden walls and the soft carpet lining the floor.

His gaze shot back to his captor on top of him when he moved, pinning him to the floor with impressive strength. He loosened his grip around his wrists, a worried frown marking his ~~handsome~~ face.

“Sangyeon, stay here. Juyeon, take the rest and go to Jungkook, see if he has time for an extra training session. Someone take Eric to the med bay.” The mellow voice of the professor turned sharp, all traces of amusement gone.

He relaxed the slightest bit when he heard footsteps walking away. “Oh and Kevin? Meet me at my office after dinner, seems like it’s time for another lesson.” His voice was strangely cold as he spoke, and the soft okay sounded more than defeated.

A deep sigh sounded through the hallway, and he finally turned to face the professor. He looked back at him, a gentle smile pulling at his lips again.

“Do you know where you are Sunwoo?” He asked with a soft voice, keeping his distance.

“The institute.” He answered in a small voice.

He nodded with a relieved smile, clasping his hands together. “Younghoon, you may get up now, I think he’s calmed down.” He prodded, a teasing glint in his eyes.

The ic- Younghoon’s ears colored before he hastily stood up, careful not put any weight on him. He slowly sat up, resting his now throbbing head in his hands, taking a deep breath. He discreetly wiped his tears, even though everyone had already seen them.

“Do you think you can stand up on your own, Sunwoo?” he was grateful that they kept their distance. He was still too out of it to fully use his powers, even before the trip down memory lane. He wasn’t sure what he’d do if someone was suddenly next to him, only that it probably wasn’t good.

He nodded and gripped the wall next to him, hoisting himself up. He glared at the two boys when they shot forward to help him. He did _not_ want to be touched right now.

The professor must have done something, because they backed off with disgruntled expressions.

“Alright Sunwoo, we are going to walk you to your room we’ve prepared for you, it’s not too far from here.”

Even if he didn’t show it, he was glad the professor took the time to actually say where they were going. He was sick of being left in the dark, he’s been in it for long enough.

A few minutes into their little journey he was regretting not accepting help. Before his ribs were a mild ache he could ignore as long he took it slow and steady, but after being tackled to the ground numerous time they were screaming at him to just stop and sit down. And don’t even get started on his head, the crying and panicking along with aforementioned tackles brought the throbbing to a brand new level of pain. But he was too proud to ask for help now, they were almost there anyway.

He paused when the professor when to a door right in the middle of T-junction, where there were no walls to hold himself up against. He glared at the door, a few meters away from him, a few meters his legs wouldn’t be able to carry him. He could literally feel the professor’s amusement, his stupid eyes twinkling.

He was about to let his ability come forth, even though it probably still wouldn’t be able to do anything, thanks to whatever these nutjobs did to him. But an arm was shoved in front of him, making him lose his non existent concentration.

His eyes met the ice freak’s once again, and instead of shying away from his look he met him head on, dark blue meeting muddy brown. His message was clear, _you either take my arm or I’ll move you myself_. Just for the sake of being annoying, he gripped his arm tighter than he had to, slowly leaving the safety of the wall. 

He thought he heard a huff, but he was more focused on not falling, even with his newly provided human crutch. He flinched when a cool hand found the small of his back, giving him the support he needed. He clenched his jaw but didn’t say anything and looked straight ahead, ignoring the second presence at his side, ready to catch him if still somehow fell. His cheeks burned with humiliation. Being escorted by two people he didn’t even know because he couldn’t walk on his own, his father would be disgusted by him.

The buff shorter one moved away from them to open the door. Sangyeon, he remembered the professor saying, probably the little leader of their group. He tried to rush into the room right after buff guy and the professor, but the ice freak had a grip like stone, and he wasn’t moving any faster than he allowed him.

“Take it slow, I don’t want you to faint on me again.”

He shivered slightly as he spoke it directly in his ear, shying away as far he could.

_Again?_

He was glad when he was finally being eased on the large bed in the middle of room. It was pretty similar to the room he woke up in, only this one had a closet, desk and he had his own bathroom. He sighed when the professor took a seat on the desk chair.

“Don’t worry,” He chuckled, “I’ll be taking my leave in a few, I only feel like we owe you some explanations.”

He leaned back on his hands, tilting his head. About damn time he got some explanations.

“What did you do to me while I was out?” his voice was no longer small, but sharp and angry.

The professor took a deep breath, but there was no regret in his eyes. “When my team brought you here, you were in a dire state and lost a lot of blood.” His hand softly rubbed the tender spot on the back of his head. “And we had to know your blood type to help you, so we took a sample. Once we had it our healers could heal the worst of your injuries.”

“But…” He prodded, his body stiff yet again.

“We found something _interesting_ in your samples, so we decided to look into it further. We found shocking amount of power suppressants in your blood, so much that it was actually keeping your body from healing as well as it should. So we did our best to expel every little bit from your body. It was my idea to keep you in medical coma while this happened, as we were afraid your body might not handle it with the additional trauma.”

He let out a stuttering breath, hopefully the only thing showing how affected he was. It would explain why he was in constant pain when he used his ability, but why would they try to suppress his ability when it was only thing that showed his worth? It simply couldn’t be true, his pains were a addition to his power, the more powerful the power, the more pain it caused. That’s what his doctors always told him.

“Say I believe you, then why can’t I use it yet?” He dared to ask, knowing it made him seem even weaker, but it was worth the risk, hopefully.

The professor actually looked sheepish, looking away and clearing his throat. “Well… you weren’t supposed to wake up until tomorrow. According to your medical timetable, you would be just fine to use it tomorrow.”

He frowned, sitting up right, ignoring the twinge of his ribs. “You had me drugged up, and you actually look like you know what you’re doing. How the hell did I wake up earlier then an telepath expected?”

“My theory is; the more the suppressants leave your system, the more your ability has the chance to expand to it’s true potential. And mutants have always healed faster than humans, that’s no secret.”

It was a _plausible_ story, as much as he loathed to admit it. But he simply couldn’t believe they would do it, even if they got off on controlling everything and everyone, it would be stupid to keep their greatest weapons so subdued.

He sighed and rubbed his face, hiding an amused smile. This professor could tell a good story, that much was true.

“I don’t believe you.”

He looked disappointed but not surprised , standing up with a big sigh. “I’m afraid I cannot convince you otherwise, at least not with words. And you’ve made your dislike for telepaths no secret.” He admitted, much to Sunwoo’s surprise. “We’ll just have to prove our worth with actions it seems.”

He mentioned for Sangyeon to open the door, only turning around to inform him of one last thing. “Younghoon will stay with you until you can safely move around on your own, if you have any more questions, he will be happy to answer them.”

~

It was awkward.

Sunwoo refused to look at him, choosing to rummage through his backpack instead. And any time he even tried to move closer, a withering glare was shot his way. Even in his weak state he was scary. He crossed his arms, leaning back on the window pane.

And it didn’t help that even with sunken in cheeks he was cute. The oversized clothes ~~his clothes~~ didn’t help, at all.

“How long was I out?”

His head shot up, looking at him wide-eyed. Sunwoo hadn’t even bothered to look up, zipping up his backpack. He sounded weirdly subdued, nothing like the boy who was antagonizing Hyunjae just a few minutes prior.

He did turn to look at him when he didn’t answer, one perfectly arched eyebrow raised. “Are you deaf?”

He forcefully shook himself out of his stupor, brushing his black hair back.

“N-no, uhm, you were out for about three days. One of our healers tried to heal you, but he can only do so much.”

His head tilted, asking a silent question he wasn’t sure he was allowed to. He looked cuter than a knife-wielding maniac should, almost like a puppy looking at something it didn’t understand.

Younghoon cleared his throat again, looking away from his curious eyes. “A friend of Eric’s, he’s a healer. But he gets the pain, and sometimes the wounds of everyone he heals, so they only call him when no one else can help.”

He let out a soft hum, his hands idly picking at his blankets.

“Why don’t you believe us?” He couldn’t help but ask.

His eyes turned sharp again, the little moment of peace broken as he scoffed, moving his backpack further up the bed.

“It’s not like you guys have given me any reason to trust you.”

Younghoon laughed coldly. “Are you kidding me?” He let out another laugh at his glare. “We took you back to our home, we healed your wounds, we healed wounds you didn’t even _know_ you had. I would say that makes us pretty trustworthy.”

This time Sunwoo let out a sharp laugh, slowly turning to fully face him. “You mean you _kidnapped_ me, since I remember yelling at Eric and all of you to leave me the hell alone. One of your friends is responsible for my ribs and if I remember right, _you_ were the one who tackled and cracked my head open, thanks for that by the way, it wasn’t like my head wasn’t in constant pain anyway.” He took a deep breath, wincing as he did. “And as cherry on top, your telepath made me relive a memory I would rather forget, and then you tackle me again, making me pretty much unable to _walk_ on my own. And after all of that I’m supposed to trust you?”

Younghoon clenched his jaw, unwilling to admit that he may have a point. “We just wanted to help you.”

“I didn’t want or need your help!” He yelled, sitting on his knees to look taller.

“You _did_ need our help!” He screamed back, standing to his full height, easily dwarfing him. “You were literally five seconds away from passing out, even without your injuries, your underweight from I don’t how many meals you had to skip and you couldn’t even use your ability right with all that crap inside of you!”

He took a step back, unknowingly having moved forward during his little rant. He felt a surge of guilt as Sunwoo followed his pacing figure with hooded eyes, having moved as far away as the bed allowed him. Younghoon shot him a short look as he gulped awkwardly.

He paused, the sudden thought making him feel even guiltier than before. Had someone even offered the guy some water after waking up?

He let out a big sigh and moved around the bed, crouching down to open the little fridge disguised as a bedside table, grasping a bottle of water. He pretended not to notice Sunwoo flinching away from him again.

He opened the bottle but paused with giving it to him. “I’m sorry for yelling at you, I should’ve been the level headed one here. You have every reason to not trust us right now. We’ll prove to you we can be trusted, but please give us a chance to do so.”

He handed him the bottle finally looked at him, and the sight broke his heart. He looked so tired, like he had the weight of the world on his slight shoulders. He took the bottle, carefully avoiding his fingers and took a few small sips, breaking eye contact.

“You should tell your healer he needs to focus the hurt on something else, like a plant, as long as it’s living it should do the job.” He said suddenly, playing with the water bottle.

He paused, looking at him with wide eyes again. This guy was really jumping from one mood to the other, it was almost giving him a whiplash. “What? How do you know this?”

He looked away from him, taking another sip, his shoulders tense again. Younghoon sighed but let it go, not sure how much more he could take.

“You should take a nap, I’m not going anywhere until you can walk on your own again anyway, so you don’t have to worry about the others.”

He looked unsure as he screwed the cap back on, handing him the water bottle back. He took it without a word and set it on top of the little fridge. He seemed to be fighting with himself for a moment before seemingly giving in, slowly laying his head on the soft pillow. He looked up at him again, his eyes drooping the tiniest bit.

“You promise?”

The side of his lips quirked up and he up his pinkie finger. Sunwoo looked confused for a second before a soft little huff left him, maybe the most genuine sound he made since he got here. He brought his hand up and Younghoon gently hooked their pinkies, not breaking their eye contact.

“I promise.”

And if he tucked him in, no one but him had to know.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you guys liked it!!
> 
> Sleeply Sunwoo is the most adorable Sunwoo and no one can change my mind. And a little moment for Sunhoon(?). 
> 
> You guys know the drill!! Comments give me life and don't be afraid to point out grammatical mistakes or anything else!!


	6. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sunwoo is once again annoying
> 
> Younghoon is shady
> 
> The Professor still likes spectating
> 
> And Eric just wants to be Sunwoo's friend

It was quiet.

Sunwoo had gotten used to sleeping in homeless shelters and abandoned buildings, it had been a long since he woke up to utter silence. It was almost unnerving. But apparently not unnerving enough to get up. The tiniest huff left him at the thought, turning over and burying himself a little deeper in his cocoon of warmth.

He groaned when someone opened up the blinds though, pulling a pillow over his head and wiggling deeper under his blankets. A familiar chuckle ran through the room and he groaned even louder. Ever since his little moment of weakness, Kim Younghoon thought they were friends, or at least on the way to becoming friends. If only he could tell him how low the probability of them becoming friends was, but that included telling him he actually knew what his ability was, and that was a _big_ no-no.

He groaned even louder when there was tugging on his blanket. He kicked blindly and was glad when he heard a quiet grunt, wrapping himself further into his blankets.

“C’mon you grump, you need to get ready! You have your tests today!” He loathed himself when he could just _hear_ the smile in his voice.

He rolled his eyes and let the blanket go, finding pleasure in the way Younghoon tumbled to the floor, blanket in his lap. He sent him a dark glare and a wave of satisfaction hit him when he skuttled out of the way.

He opened the door and slammed it behind him, locking it loudly for good measure. He would never forgive nor forget the way Younghoon busted into his bathroom while he was in the shower. Apparently he thought he tried to make a quick getaway again, and didn’t hear the damn shower when he came in.

He would honestly be stupid to leave now. Whoever these people were, they were too gullible for their own good. They thought he was actually giving them a chance.

He was just staying for the food and until his ability was back to normal. Even after three days it still wasn’t working as it should. The professor said all the supposed suppressant were out of his system, and was hinting that _he_ was the one holding it back.

 _As if_ , he huffed to himself, grabbing his toothbrush. As if he would hold back his only way out of here. The only way he could find his mom and sister and be done with this mutant bullshit.

“Hurry up grump! Professor Taemin is on his way!” Younghoon called from behind the door, knocking on it.

He aggressively brushed his teeth, his mood souring even further at the mention of the man. The only reason he was still walking was because he had telekinesis and managed to stop his knife just in time before it made home in his brain. _Stupid hybrids, always messing up his plans._

 _‘ **You** are a hybrid Sunwoo…’_ he heard a familiar voice remind him, the snappiness almost easing him back to easier times. He forced the voice down, not wanting to let his emotions get the best of him. Especially around that damned professor.

The _brilliant_ professor that was also making him do the stupid tests. They wanted to test his intelligence to see which class to put him in, much to his chagrin. Like he was staying long enough to actually _learn_ something here. The second they were lured in a false sense of security, he would disappear, hopefully to never be seen again.

His eyes flew to the shower behind him while he rinsed his mouth, eyes narrowed in consideration. Is he petty enough to take a shower while there were people waiting for him?

He smirked, looking towards the locked door where two voices could be heard conversing.

_Yes, yes he is_

~

He cracked his neck while he waited, comfortably tucked away in a reading nook. The professor left him here after he finished his tests, faster than they had expected. The only subject he had some trouble with was history, but he blamed that on his upbringing, his father never really liked any the things the humans did and saw no use in teaching him. Or let his tutors teach him.

He frowned when he heard distant footsteps heading his way. Those weren’t the professors, he walked heavier and with purpose. It wasn’t the ice freak either, he tended to drag his feet randomly. He tilted his head, considering getting up from his very comfortable hiding place, but ultimately didn’t, content to watch the large sprawling forest just out of his reach.

He mentally mapped out the room, remembering that there was only one way out, not counting the window in front of him. He could use the giant chairs sprawled around the rather small library to his advantage and tip them over, forcing whoever was seeking him out to climb over them to get to him. He could slip under one of the unnecessarily large table while they did so and make a break for the door. The polished wooden floors would easily help him slide over the ground, he had tested that as soon as the professor left him alone. He briefly entertained using the bookcases to his advantage, but quickly vetoed the idea. He would not waste perfectly good books for an simpleton.

He kept his senses on the intruder as he entered, ready to spring up and execute one of his plans if needed, but kept his gaze on the view before him. You never acknowledged the enemy before _you_ _wanted_ to, all the while never losing track of where they were. He forced his muscles to relax as the intruder stopped right before his nook, the drapes still hiding him from view. Normally he would change the probability of them seeing him to something under a ten, but since his ability still refused to cooperate, he would have to leave his games for a later time.

An amused smile quirked at his lips when the figure sighed but didn’t move the drapes.

“I presume you’re Kim Sunwoo?” a young, boyish voice asked him. The voice was definitely younger than the professor though, maybe more his age.

When he didn’t answer he did move the drapes, but Sunwoo’s gaze never shot towards him. This is a game he knew all too well, and one he rarely ever lost.

“I’ll just assume you are,” He said shortly, “now get up and follow me, the professor asked me to test you.”

His gaze finally left the beautiful forest, and met honey brown eyes. The guy looked like he stepped out of a fashion magazine for sport fanatics Jong used to like so much. He immediately hated him.

“I already finished my tests today muscle bunny, just hop on and tell the professor I’m just fine where I am.” He drawled, closing the curtain again.

He had to force his head to slow down, locking his muscles for the slightest second, instead slowly turning and eyeing the hand holding the curtain with disdain.

“You think you’re the first stuck-up brat I’ve had to deal with today?” Sunwoo raised his brow in surprised amusement. “No, so get that butt of yours moving before I do for you, I don’t have all day.”

He blinked, staying silent for a moment longer just to annoy the muscle bunny the slightest bit more, before he finally turned to fully face him. “What kind of test is this, because you don’t look old or smart enough to be an actual teacher.”

A muscle in his jaw jumped but he forcefully calmed himself down, sadly. He was itching for a fight.

He tilted his head when muscle bunnies eyes seemed to light up for a moment before a smirk crossed his face. “I’m Jeon Jungkook, and I’m one of the trainers of this institute,” he couldn’t help the way he leaned forward the tiniest bit, “and I think you’re more than eager to do anything else than sit and wait for a change.”

He was sure his smirk matched the one on Jeon’s face. Maybe he would still get that fight after all.

~

Eric’s head shot up, the pencil he had been balancing on his upper lip falling on the floor with a clatter. The teacher looked ready to scold whoever interrupted his lesson, but sat down when Professor Taemin entered.

“Oh calm down dear Kyungsoo, you’ll have more than enough people to scold in your next class.” Taemin joked, getting a rare smile out of the normally more neutral teacher.

He turned to face us, his trademark pleasant smile on his face. “Now, I heard that a few of you have been bothering young Younghoon here about our newest resident,” He looked down when the Professor’s eyes shot to him for a split second, “and I think some of you will be pleased to know that he is able to join your classes for the most part.”

He was about to start cheering when Kevin’s arm hesitantly went up in the air. A surge of pity went through him, Kevin had been the most adamant on knowing how Sunwoo was doing.

“How do you mean ‘for the most part’?”

Eric blinked when, was that pride?, flashed through the Professor’s eyes. “Young Sunwoo did well in all of his subjects, but since he scored an exceptionally high mark in a few, he will take a few classes on a higher level.”

Haknyeon let out a low whistle, ignoring Sangyeon’s look. “How’s that going to be done?”

“You do not need to worry about that, young Haknyeon.” He said in an decisive tone.

When there were no more questions he turned back to Kyungsoo and bid him a cheerful goodbye, heading for the door.

“Professor?”

Eric turned in surprise when Younghoon called out to the professor, a thoughtful frown on his face.

“Yes?”

“Where is he now?” He couldn’t help his eyebrow raise. Younghoon had acted like keeping watch over Sunwoo was the worst thing in the world, and now he was asking about him? He thought he saw Chanhee smirk from the corner of his eye, but when he turned to face his face was covered in boredom, eyeing the Professor.

“I believe I asked trainer Jeon to take him for a training session.”

Everyone’s attention was on the Professor again, and the mischievous glint in his eyes told him he knew all too well what he did. Trainer Jeon Jungkook was one of the best and harshest trainers the institute had to offer, and he normally only trained with the elite teams. The professor saying that he himself asked him to see what Sunwoo was made of…

“Are they still training now?” the question left him before he could stop it.

Taemin’s amused glance fell on him as he answered, “I was just about to look in on them.”

Instead of turning his puppy eyes to professor Kyungsoo, he turned around and used them on his oldest hyung. The short professor had never cracked under them, not even once, the same could not be said for Sangyeon however. Sangyeon, for his credit, tried to resist it for a couple of seconds before heaving a sigh and sending a pleading look towards professor Kyungsoo.

To his surprise he simply waved his hand, seemingly already done with everyone. “I knew what the principle was going to ask before he even came in, and I’m not going to pretend I can still teach you something when you obviously want to go check the new kid out. Just remember your homework for once.” He reminded them, moving to wipe the board clean.

There was a small moment of silence before everyone scrambled to grab their stuff, following the principle on his heel. He was, once again, surprised he wasn’t the only one at his heel. Jacob and Changmin were right there with him.

“Are you sure he was feeling good enough to train yet, sir?” Jacob asked worriedly, ever the mother hen.

The Professor just chuckled good naturedly and nodded.

“Can we spar with him too if he’s still standing?” Changmin asked eagerly.

_Ah, that explains it, Changmin hyung has been looking for a new spar partner._

“If trainer Jeon says you can.”

He didn’t even turn at the sharp laugh behind him, already knowing who it belonged to. “The street rat couldn’t even keep with us, let alone trainer Jeon. I’ll bet you he’ll be passed out when we get there.” Hyunjae really didn’t like Sunwoo even before they got him back to the institute, and when Kevin got in trouble because of him his opinion only worsened.

Haknyeon and Hyunjoon turned on him like hungry vultures, detailing out the bet before shaking hands on it.

He ignored them and focused on the Professor, who shot him an amused look before opening the door, leaving it open for them. Muted thuds sounding from inside the room, sounding eerily like the bamboo staffs trainer Jeon liked using. A small vindictive part of him felt good, the guy could stand to be taken down a peg or two, and maybe learn some gratitude while he was at it.

Jacob send him a disapproving look, no doubt sensing his pettiness. _Is pettiness even an emotion? Ah whatever, hyung could probably sense it anyway._ Ever since they day that they took him, Jacob had been one of Sunwoo’s biggest supporters.

He quirked a quick smile towards his hyung before stepping into the room, and stopping short immediately. He barely felt the guys crashing into his back.

_No way, no fucking way._

Sunwoo and Jungkook were fighting, that’s for sure.

But how the hell was Sunwoo keeping up?!

He rubbed his eyes and looked again, pretty sure his eyeballs were going to pop out of his head when Sunwoo got a _clear_ hit in. How the hell?! He had never even gotten a clear hit in! And his power was s _uperspeed_.

He was snapped out of his stupor at quiet cackling and turned around to see Hyunjoon and Haknyeon descending on Hyunjae like a pair of hungry vultures, collecting a debt. Hyunjae barely paid them any mind, his gaze blank and mouth the slightest bit open.

He shook his head at his hyungs and turned around again, creeping the slightest bit closer. They almost looked like they were dancing, the staffs the only thing connecting them in quick successions. He tried to move even closer when he saw their mouths move, and was even more surprised to find them making jabs at each other. Sunwoo even cracking the smallest smiles at some of them.

Then he realized, having to bodily hold his gasp back, afraid of interrupting the very dangerous dance in front of him. They were pointing out _mistakes_. Sunwoo was blatantly pointing out mistakes in trainer Jeon’s strategy, mercilessly ripping him a new one as much as the trainer was doing to him.

He almost snapped at the Professor when he clapped, ending their dangerously beautiful dance. But Sunwoo took advantage of Jungkook being distracted and swiped his legs out underneath him, lightly hitting the staff against his temple with a teasing grin.

“What did you say again Jeon?,” He pretended to think, using his staff to heave Jungkook up, his muscles flexing under the weight. _Since when did scrawny little glow eyes have muscles?!_ “Oh yeah! The fight only ends when you’re off the mat!”

Jungkook accepted the help, only to snatch the staff away as soon as he was up. Sunwoo pouted the slightest bit but stayed put at Jungkook’s look, crossing his arms with a petulant expression while the trainer put away their staffs. This was probably not the first time Sunwoo caught Jungkook off guard. Something told him Sunwoo liked to fight dirty.

“So young Sunwoo?,” His face smoothed out at the Professor’s voice, the familiar mask of indifference on his features by the time he turned to face them. “How did you like your first training?”

He seemed to think for a moment, casting a unnecessarily long look back at Jungkook before answering. “It was nice to finally be challenged for a change.”

He could literally feel Hyunjae tensing behind him, and he held back his yelp. When the hell did he move so close? Did he really get _that_ entranced by their training? He was happy but spooked to find Younghoon was next to him, an amused smile at his face while his eyes slid over Sunwoo’s form.

“I think you were pretty challenged when you we managed to take you down.” Hyunjae said boisterously. He sighed at his hyung words but didn’t comment, once Hyunjae didn’t like someone, he wasn’t gonna hide it.

Sunwoo clenched his jaw before opening his mouth, only to be cut off by Jungkook, “You guys managed to beat him?”

He didn’t like that unbelieving tone. “Yeah we did, he went down in like a minute.” Eric couldn’t help but say.

Jungkook only looked at him for a second, the disbelief in his eyes insulting. “Kim, is this true?”

Sunwoo chuckled meeting his gaze before nodding slightly. Jungkook turned his impressed gaze back to them, and Eric got ready for the compliments. Lord knows how hard it was to get one from trainer Jeon.

“ _But,_ ” Sunwoo went on, stopping Jungkook just shy of opening his mouth, “I hadn’t slept for about thirty-six hours and my food ran out before that. I was literally running on adrenaline and a prayer, I think even a homeless guy would’ve been able to take me down.”

Jungkook nodded and smirked the slightest bit. Eric was just about to open his mouth, some of the guys stepping forward before the Professor interrupted them this time. He was really starting to sense a trend here.

“So trainer Jeon, how good is our newest resident.” He tactfully ignored Sunwoo’s face souring at his voice.

Jungkook’s grin resurfaced, “He was better than expected, he knows the basics about all of the weapons we have here. He knows hand-to-hand combat almost as good as me and is scarily accurate with any kind of knife.”

The knife thing wasn’t really a surprise, he had tried to use him, his team and the Professor as pincushions before. But damn, for the rest?, color him impressed.

“And what would you guess his ability is?”

Both their faces spasmed, Sunwoo’s satisfied smirk disappearing as snow before the sun and Jungkook going blank. Eric shared a confused look with Changmin, who had come forward at some point too.

Sunwoo looked at the trainer with a tilted head, eyes the slightest bit narrowed. He didn’t look worried in the slightest, his posture a little slouched and his hands hanging idly by his side. He was reminded of the guy in the Professor’s office and he imperceptibly moved closer to the Professor, ready to speed him away should Sunwoo try something again. His cold eyes slid over to him for a second and he froze, the calculating look scaring him more than he would ever admit and he had to look away. He didn’t know how the Professor even held his gaze for more than a few seconds that day, and he was once again reminded of a young king, waiting for his subjects to make a mistake so he could punish them. He could almost _see_ the glittering of a brilliant crown on his head.

Jungkook’s voice shook him out of his musings, and his cheeks colored the slightest bit. _Don’t be stupid, Sunwoo is not a king, he lived on the streets for christ sake._

“Even if I did know, I wouldn’t tell you without his consent.” Jungkook shared carefully, side-eyeing Sunwoo for a split second.

“And I do not consent.” He said, his voice devoid of any emotion, any infliction to gauge how he might feel.

Even while they were literally across from each other, he never felt as… disconnected from someone as the boy in front of him, and he had to look away once again, the glittering almost hurting his eyes. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> just a warning, this is not Sunwoo/Eric story, but they will be close soon enough XD
> 
> And thank you for all the people who read and comment, even if i don't respond, know i read and love every comment you guys leave!!
> 
> Hope you enjoyed this chapter!!
> 
> (And did i get the king imaginations from Eric bc i'm reading the Red Queen series (highly recommend btw) or bc i actually have something planned for once....)


	7. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sunwoo is still a brat (what a shock)
> 
> Younghoon is smarter than he looks
> 
> Eric still doesn't know how to deal with Sunwoo, but is learning
> 
> Jacob is the only one with manners
> 
> And we meet a new face.

He ran.

The second he stepped a foot outside of that training room, with that wretched professor inside, he ran. He passed the now familiar hallways, ignoring the lavish things surrounding him. How those things survived living in a school full of mutants was beyond him, and really couldn’t find it in him care right now.

_That fucking rat, I should’ve just stabbed him when I had the chance_ , he spat in his mind. The Professor was getting too close to him, his secrets, _everything_.

Here he thought he could have a nice afternoon beating someone into a pulp, someone who could actually pose _some_ kind of challenge to him. And, _of course_ , the Professor _had_ to stop by with his little merry band of nitwits and destroy any kind of peace he finds between these wooden walls.

He slammed the door shut behind him, finding pleasure in the way the loud sound echoed. He hoped the Professor heard it, he hoped his ‘elite team’ heard it. Let them know how much he loathed them, loathed this place.

_Loathe the fact that you can’t st-_

He rubbed his face harshly, expelling the thought from his mind before it could take root. It would not be well for him to even entertain such thoughts. He just needed to regain his strength, regroup and leave this place. He leaned back on the door and thought about sliding down, sitting down and not get up for a while, but he expelled that thought too.

He locked the door behind him and crossed the room to close the blinds. He then moved towards the bathroom and used the little stepping stool in there to reach for the vent next to his shower. It was almost therapeutic to rip the thing out and yank his backpack out, making sure he didn’t actually break the cover. He left it balanced precariously on the edge of the bathtub, but with one burning look he was sure it wouldn’t fall anytime soon.

He threw the almost falling apart backpack on his bed and made a mental to get a new one soon, and opened it with gentler hands than he did the vent. He first laid out his knives and daggers, which they still hadn’t taken from him for reasons unknown ~~stupidity~~ , and quickly snagged the one from out under his pillow, taking count of how many he lost. Something relaxed in him when his set was still mostly complete, and he closely examined each one, one by one, while he rummaged through his backpack for his honing steel. Normally he would use his whetstone, but it _somehow_ broke when a stupid shifter scared him of off a very high ledge.

He paused when his fingers brushed against the familiar fabric. He gripped the small bag tight for just a moment, allowing this small bout of weakness. He would focus all his energy on finding them as soon as he had his ability back. He would be useless to them without it, they needed a protector, not someone to be protected. He let the small bag go and found his honing steel right underneath, because _of course_ it is.

He set himself down on his bed and began the painstakingly long process of sharpening all of his knives and daggers. If ‘the elite team’ was really trained by Jeon on the regular, then he may have to worry about them more than expected.

Eventually his mind quieted down and focused on the drag of steel against steel, again and again, until they were all lethal and perfect for him to use again. He paused when he felt a presence tickle at the edge of his reach, a muscle ticked in his jaw when it moved towards him, he was pretty sure he heard his jaw creak when it was more than one presence.

_Dear heavens, I really can’t catch a break can I?_

He cursed quietly and quickly re-sheathed his knives and daggers, stuffing them in his backpack, leaving only a few of his smallest and one larger one out. He left them on his bed and rushed to the bathroom, stepping on the stool again and laying the backpack in its original hiding place, making sure not to make too much noise. Noises in vents carried far, and he didn’t know if there was another one in the hallway. He picked up the cover and pushed it back in place. He stealthily rushed back to the bed, aware of the steadily getting closer little group. He put the largest dagger back under his pillow and attached the other ones to his body, finding comfort in the familiar sheaths covering his lower back and thighs again.

He barely looked at the door as there was timid knocking, focusing on tightening the last of his knives. After he finally finished, something settling down in his chest, and he walked over to the meager book collection on the desk. The one thing he could appreciate about this institute was their books, in almost every room he has been in there were some kind, shame they were almost all boring though.

He rolled his eyes when the knocking returned, bordering on loud. They could knock until their fists fell off, this room was his until he left. And if he was anything it was possessive of the few thing that were his. He sighed, knocking one book over before turning towards the closet.

He rummaged through the few pieces of clothes he was given, trying not to think about who they all belonged too. He managed to yank out another tank top and one of his own hoodies, with some sweatpants that wouldn’t completely trip him. The smallest smirk slipped onto his lips when the knocking stopped, and their presence ebbed to the background of his mind. It seemed that they finally got the hint.

He was rolling up his sweatpants, happy to finally be rid of his stinking clothes. He was dying to take them off when he showered at the training room, but he didn’t bring a change of clothes, and he was eager to get away from certain people.

His head snapped up when there was violent knocking on his door, the poor thing shaking in its hinges. He shot up, ignoring the fact he was still half indecent, pulling the sweatpants up to hide the sheaths, and unlocked the door before ripping it open, snarling at the people behind it.

Some petty satisfaction shot through him when the trio actually flinched back the tiniest bit. Then confusion set in why this particular trio was at his door. Eric was expected, he followed him everywhere he could. Younghoon was not the most obvious choice but he could understand why he would come, considering he thought they were some kind of friends, but the third guy was a stranger to him.

He did remember the kind eyes faintly from the warehouse, the only one to actually _ask_ him if he wanted to come with them. He decided he didn’t dislike that one, yet.

“Oh, uhm, I-I didn’t realize you were…” Eric fumbled, gesturing to his naked upper body. He rolled his eyes and shot a short glare towards the ice freak, who was unashamedly ogling him. At least the other two had the decency to avert their eyes. He moved the slightest bit behind the door, ignoring the little smirk on his face.

“What did you need, or is almost destroying doors an hobby of yours?” He asked, one eyebrow raised.

Eric sputtered, flushing as he looked at the two guys by his side for help. Younghoon still hadn’t stopped looking at him, much to his chagrin. The ice freak still liked to rile him up it, and he was mad he was getting so good at it.

The still unnamed guy stepped forward, a hand on Eric’s shoulder. “I don’t think we’ve been introduced yet, I’m Jacob.” He stared at hand held out to him, just because he didn’t dislike this one didn’t mean he wanted to touch him. “ _Okay_ then, uhm, we just wanted to ask if you would like to join us for dinner.”

He chuckled at that, turning quickly while closing the door a bit more to reach for his tank top. He pulled it on and turned back to the trio before him, and quirked an eyebrow at the foot pushed between his door.

“I was just putting on a shirt-“

“Oh sor-“

“Because your big friend over there keeps ogling me.” He finished, pleased when Younghoon’s ears turned red.

Jacob’s head snapped over to him and he was lightly pushed, and according to Younghoon’s shocked expression, that was quite a large punishment. His glare spoke of a later scolding and he had to hold back his pleased smile.

“But back to the point,” After shooting his friend one last look, Jacob turned back to Sunwoo, “Do you wanna join us?”

“I think one of your shifters would prefer for me not to be there.” He didn’t know why he suddenly sounded so diplomatic, but old habits die hard.

Eric blinked, while Younghoon tilted his head. He had a familiar spark in his eyes, a spark he recognized.

_Where did you learn that Kim Younghoon?_

“Well, I’m afraid his preference lost to our vote. We would love to have you there Sunwoo.” He bit his lip to hide his amused smile. While he didn’t like that someone could twist words around like him, it was something that was familiar.

“Nice try, but I’m used to dining at a later time.” He closed the door and gripped his hoodie, happy to finally put it on. Another familiar thing, one of the last he had left. 

He sighed when not even a second later the door opened and the mismatched trio let themselves in, Younghoon immediately beelining for his bed. The one time he makes his bed and of course the ice freak had to ruin it. His eyebrow ticked but he didn’t react any other way, outwardly at least. He returned his attention on the sad little collection of books to ignore their presence. Jacob was the only one with some manners, hesitating to even enter and closing the door when he did.

“Why’re you so stubborn?!” Eric whined, spinning in his desk chair, “like it’s impossible to _dine_ earlier than normal!”

He ignored the twinge of amusement at Blondies words and righted the book he knocked over earlier, for the lack of anything better to do. He couldn’t even clean his room ~~not like he would anyway~~ because he had too little stuff to even make a mess _with_.

“I’m a creature of habit.” He pretended not to notice them sharing looks. He knew that they wanted to get to know him, they’d made it embarrassingly clear, and he figured that giving them crumbs was better than them annoying him about it.

Unsurprisingly, it was Younghoon who spoke, “So ‘creature of habit’, what do you normally do before you _dine_?”

He wiped the desk, flinging away dust that wasn’t there as he pondered. Normally he would take a walk before dinner, it was one of his few moments of peace, but he hadn’t been allowed outside since he tried to run away. He messed with his sleeve instead of looking out the window, not wanting to give away his ‘habit’ so freely. Should he try it?

Would they let him?

~

Sunwoo, shockingly, took a long time to answer.

Younghoon watched him fiddle with his sleeve, obviously deciding whether or not to share another part about himself. He would like to say he had gotten to know Sunwoo pretty well during their days as forced companions, but honestly, that guy was a giant million piece puzzle, and they were missing about three quarter of the pieces. The second you thought you had something figured out about him, the tiniest thing, and he would completely throw you off by saying or doing something you’d never expect.

And it didn’t help he looked cute while doing it, but that was beside the point. Younghoon shook his head and focused his gaze on his face again, seeing the now familiar neutral mask on it. He sat up straighter when his mouth suddenly opened, his voice surprisingly soft, almost as soft as when they made their pinky promise.

“I used to take a walk outside before dinner.”

Eric’s hopeful gaze turned into a regretful one, and he felt his face doing the same. Jacob was probably already trying to dull Sunwoo’s upcoming sadness or annoyance.

Eric cleared his throat before speaking, “I’m sorry Sunwoo, but you’re not al-“

“-Yeah I figured.”

He looked down when he heard his familiar deep smooth voice, the softness completely from before completely gone. Disappointment colored his words, and that was infinitely worse than his sadness would have been. He sounded resigned, resting one clenched fist on the desk.

Younghoon turned his head when Jacob stepped forward, his face twisted in compassion. “Maybe if we’re quick, and you promise to stay with us.”

He didn’t look up, but his head twisted briefly in Jacob’s direction. “And what would my promise mean to you? You don’t know me. I could try and use this opportunity to run.” His voice didn’t sound accusatory, he sounded like he was simply stating a fact.

“You don’t have your precious backpack with you, you still look like a small wind could blow you over and your power’s still jacked.” Younghoon counted off, one eyebrow raised. “Frankly, I don’t think you’re stupid enough to run right now.”

A muscle ticked in Sunwoo’s jaw and the smallest smirk crept onto his face. He was really easy to rile up once you figured out his ticks, and he hated it when someone pointed out something obvious, which Younghoon loved to do. It was nice to see the guy still had some emotion, even if it was mostly anger or annoyance.

He finally looked at Jacob, who was looking at him with a worried gaze, no doubt sensing his mess of emotions and trying to soothe them. His shoulders relaxed the slightest bit, and he nodded, rubbing the back of his neck.

“Fine, I promise I’ll stay with you guys.” He grumbled.

~

It wasn’t hard to sneak out.

He wasn’t sure if he could even _call_ it sneaking out, they walked right out the front door and no one stopped them. People did take double take when he and Eric walked past, but looked away when Younghoon and Jacob followed.

He felt like damn child, not even allowed to go outside alone without supervision, it was maddening. But at least Eric finally learned how to read the room, and kept his trap shut.

He didn’t even try to hide how eager he was to finally be outside again, speeding up when he recognized the gigantic front doors. Eric kept pace with him and with one look behind him sped forward to open the doors for him. He glared at the blonde when his bangs got tangled even more than they already were. The brat even had the gall to grin at him.

He shouldered past him and the tension he had been carrying since he woke up here for the first time, seemed to drop the slightest bit. His shoulders relaxed and the smallest smile creeped on his face as he heaved in a deep breath, letting the crisp air fill his lungs. It reminded him of early morning jogs, the inside jokes and tripping each other up a fond distant memory.

He snapped out of it when gravel crunched behind him, his face smoothening out again. One arm moved to rest on his lower back, right by his sheath. It was drilled into him from a young age to always walk with his back straight, but he used to slouch so much his mother told him to keep his arm on his back, so that if he forgot his arm would remind him. It was a perk he would later take advantage of it, using the position of his arm to always have one hand on a weapon one way or another.

He took in another deep breath, distantly registering Jacob walking towards a large open path, the sides filled with beautiful flowers. He bit his lip, pushing another stubborn memory to the back of his mind. He wasn’t alone, no matter how much he’d like to be, and the two people behind him were physical proof of that.

He sighed but started walking, looking curiously over the beautiful garden. He frowned when he saw a few flowers bloom out of season, and could almost imagine his sister losing her mind beside him. Her power would’ve thrived on these grounds.

“What’re you smiling about?”

A brief flash of panic shot through him, and he didn’t miss Jacob before him tensing. He tried to subtly look back towards them, but Sunwoo already had his eyes on him.

_Hmm, an empath, should’ve guessed_.

The panic was gone before it could take root, luckily, and he quickly smoothed his face out again. He cursed at himself while he threw an unimpressed towards Blondie, who’s face was a cloud of confusion.

“None of your damn business Blondie.” He snapped, looking back towards the scenery he couldn’t enjoy.

He only had one small moment of blissful silence however, before Blondie opened his mouth again. Seems like his ability to read the room had already vanished.

“I _know_ you know my name, so why won’t you just call me that?”

“Because you act like a Blondie.”

Erci sputtered, his eyes widening in anger. “What does that even _mean_?!”

Younghoon piped up, with a voice full of amusement. _Damn it_ , he didn’t want to amuse that fucker. “I think he just called you a dumb blonde Eric.”

He looked away when Eric turned his face towards him, his outrageous face almost too hilarious for him to handle. Jacob’s quiet chuckling from his lonely stroll in front of them didn’t help. Oh, how much he wished he just joined him instead of trying to wait out the idiot next to him. 

“Then what would you do if I dyed my hair, huh?!” His try at being intimidating was so bad, it was almost funny. Like a little puppy trying to yell at their owner.

“Dyeing your hair doesn’t take your Blondie behavior away, so it really wouldn’t stop me.”

Jacob coughed unconvincedly somewhere before them, probably just in hearing range. He bit the inside of his cheek to keep his own laugh inside. Say what you want about Blondie, he pulled some amazing faces.

He spluttered some more, trying to argue, but Sunwoo had already tuned him out. His attention had been grabbed by the stars above their heads. He had tried to stargaze on the nights his mind had been too loud, head too full of thoughts, but there was a stupid tree right next his window that took away most of the view.

“So Sunwoo,” Jacob interrupted Eric’s whining, “When do your classes start?”

His gaze shot lazily towards the brown haired guy before gliding back towards the stars above them. If his sister had a unhealthy obsession with plants and nature, he had a unhealthy one about the stars and faith.

“Jeon said we had a few lessons next week, so I think next Monday.”

The familiar burn filled his eyes, all though it hurt less than usual. He looked up at the stars and their far away statistics appearing, his messy scrawl unrecognizable from the distance. It made him feel grounded to look at the stars this way, reminded him that he couldn’t influence everything, that even he couldn’t mess with all that he saw. It was refreshingly humbling.

“Did you hear about what class you’re going to be in?” Jacob continued, subtly putting himself between him and the still pouting Eric.

He shook his head, closing his eyes while he did. He glanced at the warm brown eyes before his gaze was pulled towards the flowers again, inching away from him. While he appreciated that he finally was free of Eric’s attention, there wasn’t much space between him and Eric to begin with.

He rolled his eyes as he heard Eric getting ready to speak again, taking unnecessary deep breaths.

“Okay Glow Eyes,” His head shot up with a glare, because _what the fuck did he just call me?!_ , “I know that we didn’t have the greatest start.-“

“-That’s an understatement.” He muttered.

“But we’re trying okay?! We’re trying to understand you and make sure you’re comfortable, but it doesn’t work if you don’t cooperate. It’s not like we’re asking your life story here!” He laughed a little, voice begging. “We’re just asking for some boundaries, so maybe you don’t look like your about slit our throat the second you see us.”

He pursed his lips, hating the fact that Eric had actually made a few good points. It’s not that didn’t _want_ to try and fit in, but it would all be useless in the end. He would have to leave to find his family first, and then he had to deal with whatever his father threw at them. He knew from a young age that it was impossible to destroy what his father and his fathers before him had built. He had tried, with varying amounts of help, but it never made a difference. He _had_ entertained the thought of somehow bringing them here, but his father had people everywhere, it wouldn’t take long for him to find them here. _Hell,_ it probably won’t take much longer for the man to find _him_ here.

Point is, it would be useless to actually try to make a life here if he had to leave in the end anyway. He wouldn’t make that mistake again.

“ _Glow Eyes?!_ ” He sputtered instead, his face twisting.

Eric’s eyes widened while Jacob just closed his eyes, speed-walking away from them. He ignored Younghoon’s disappointed stare, the only one who had seen through his, admittedly, transparent attempt to divert the attention.

“W-well yo-your, your eyes glow when you do your th-thing!” He stuttered, flailing his arms.

“So you just decided to call me by a defining feature, I’m kinda rusty with modern slang, but I’m pretty sure that’s called _bullying_.”

Eric spluttered again, flailing his hands so fast that they were a blur. “ _No no!_ that’s _not_ what I’m doing!”

He either didn’t hear the muted laughs around them or chose to ignore them.

“Then what _are_ you doing?” He had to look away to hide the smile growing on his face. Messing with people never got old.

“I-I I’m not!...,” Eric paused, noting the shaking in his shoulders, “are you _laughing_?!”

He bit his lip to keep his chuckles at bay, Eric’s insulted tone the funniest thing he had heard in months.

“You make it so easy Blondie.” He simply said, frowning the slightest bit when the doors came into sight again in the distance.

“Isn’t calling me Blondie bullying too?!”

“No, you act like a blondie so calling you Blondie is justified. You calling me ‘Glow Eyes’ is calling out one defining feature without good reason.” He bullshitted.

Eric’s response was cut off when Jacob opened the doors before them, and the weirdly lively atmosphere died out at the creaking. He quirked a eyebrow when Jacob didn’t move though, standing right in the opening he created.

“Are you sure you don’t want to go dinner with us now, you don’t even have to sit with us, I just want to know you actually ate something today.”

Okay, that was not fair! The guy was one of the nicest he had probably ever met, and his eyes were so warm. This is probably why they send him, many have a hard time saying no too nice people.

He sighed and moved to push past him, looking away from his kicked puppy expression. He stopped when he was through, twisting his head a little to the side.

“I don’t like being touched.” He once again ignored their attention and turned his face back forward. “Now who’s gonna show me the way to the canteen, I’m starving.”

~

Eric skipped ahead.

They had never expected Sunwoo to actually say yes, they were fully prepared to drag him with if needed. Hence why him and Younghoon were chosen to go, Sangyeon had to keep peace while they were gone, so his super strong hyung was out. So that left him and Younghoon, the only other two with a minor super strength ability. And of course Jacob, it was never bad to bring an empath along, especially with a volatile person like Sunwoo. He was pretty sure he still had his knives somewhere.

He had joined Younghoon when he shot him a look, and walked a distance in front of the quietly conversing Jacob and Sunwoo. Well mostly it was Jacob doing the talking, Sunwoo just occasionally hummed. He had understood what his hyung was trying to do. He somehow always said the wrong thing around Sunwoo, and Younghoon didn’t want him to scare Sunwoo off. He had quietly explained you had to treat him like a feral cat, let him go at his own pace while occasionally nudging him in the right direction.

He believed his hyung, and not only because he had more experience with Sunwoo. His hyung had acted like Sunwoo a lot too when he first came here, all cutting words and freezing looks, only when they showed him they weren’t like the people back where he came from, did he start to trust them. His parents were furious when they found out how much they had s _oftened_ and _weakened_ their little boy. He genuinely hoped Sunwoo had it easier than Younghoon had, but his behavior said otherwise.

“Stop looking back, he’ll know we talked about him.” Younghoon reminded him softly.

His head snapped forward and Younghoon just sighed, petting him on the shoulder. “I heard Seventeen came back today, maybe you can ask Jeonghan-hyung to teach you something.”

He glared at his hyung, getting ready to argue. _He was amazing at being subtle, thank you very much._ When they reached the large propped open doors, the noise luckily more subdued at the later hour. Normally they would come early to get the best food, but since they had an impromptu training session and had to convince the boy behind them to come with them, they were a lot later than normal.

He smirked when he met Hyunjae’s eyes, moving to the side to give him a clear view of the now hooded Sunwoo. His eyes darkened and he looked away, right to an very amused Hyunjoon, who held his hand out with an expectant look.

_When would Hyunjae ever learn, you don’t bet with Hyunjoon._

Sangyeon’s eyes brightened the slightest bit, and gestured towards the many empty seats. Why they chose such a large table was beyond him, as far as he knew only NCT could fill one of those tables.

“Finally, the food was getting cold.” Chanhee spoke with a bite to his voice. He rolled his eyes good naturedly, knowing his pink haired hyung was only hungry.

Younghoon simply huffed at him before sitting down next to him, him and Jacob acting like a barrier between Sunwoo and the rest.

“Sunwoo, don’t get startled, but another team just came back and they’re pretty noisy.” Right as Sangyeon said, loud cackling was heard, punctuated by the sound of glass breaking.

His gaze shot between the loud table a few yards away and Sangyeon. He looked like he was about to say something, before shaking his head and focusing on his food, a resigned sigh leaving his lips.

There was a small moment of awkward silence, nobody knowing what to do or say and Hyunjae doing his best to ignore the boy right across from him. Eric had a belated thought that maybe that was not a good idea, but now they were sitting, and Sunwoo seemed intent on ignoring everyone around him.

“Haknyeon-hyung, I’m good at being subtle right?” He whined.

Haknyeon looked up with wide eyes and quickly stuffed a big piece of meat in his mouth, gesturing to his mouth and shaking his head. He simply gaped at him.

“Eric, our sweetest maknae,” Hyunjae began, placing his cutlery down, “You are good at many things, but being subtle is not one of them.”

He stared at him with wide eyes, looking towards Kevin and Jacob for help. Kevin winced and avoided his eyes while Jacob had a apologetic grimace on his face.

He huffed and went back to his food, muttering to himself, “Like hell I’m not good at being subtle, my power is literally speed but alright. Guess not being seen is not part of being of subtle, alright.”

He ignored the huffs and quiet laughs around the tbale and kept stabbing his meat. He wasn’t _really_ mad, but no one was talking and if he had to become the subject of the conversation, then alright. He wanted to show Sunwoo what a normal, well as normal as they could get, friend group looked like.

He flinched backwards when a pea almost hit him in the face, and sent a small glare towards Changmin. He shook his head and pointed his fork towards Sunwoo, who was peacefully eating everything but the peas on his plate. His gaze shot towards him when he tried to throw one back, but hit Jacob next to him.

He sighed quietly when Eric wouldn’t look away, but opened his mouth, “You really don’t take notice of your surroundings, do you?”

He frowned at him, and Sunwoo sighed again but pointed his knife past him. He looked next to him to see Yoon Jeonghan staring at him, head on his hand. He screeched and flailed back, barely avoiding smacking Younghoon in the face.

“Oh, dear Jesus, don’t do that hyung, you know I have an weak heart.” He grumbled, righting himself.

He simply chuckled. “I could hear your whining all the way to my table Eric, I don’t think that’s s _ubtle_ at all.”

He flushed, missing the way Sunwoo stiffened at the voice.

“But before I offer you some lessons in the art of subtlety, who is your new friend.” His gaze shot past him, the curiousness shining in his eyes.

Sangyeon cleared his throat, cutting Eric off. His ears turned hot at his pointed look.

“Jeonghan-hyung, meet our newest resident, one Eric found himself, Kim Sunwoo.”

Jeonghan’s head snapped over to Sunwoo, his features smoothening out in a scarily familiar fashion.

He stood up and smoothly walked over to Sunwoo, ignoring the warning looks the whole table was shooting him. Eric chanced a look over towards Seventeen’s table to see most of them looking towards them.

_Good, if Sunwoo decides to go feral again, we’ll have enough back-up._

He crouched down right behind, his head tilted and an oddly fond look on his face. “Luck-“

Before he even finished the word Sunwoo turned around and tackled him to the ground. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay so this was a monster of a chapter, and please don't expect long chapters like these a lot, they are a chore to write XD
> 
> And what do think is going on between Jeonghan and Sunwoo??
> 
> Is Sunwoo actually softening up towards them??
> 
> And rememeber, comments give me life!!
> 
> AND IF I DON'T RESPOND TO YOUR COMMENT PLEASE DONT FEEL SAD, I READ EVERY ONE, MORE THAN ONCE!! I JUST FORGET TO REACT, I'M A FORGETFUL PERSON. JUST KNOW THAT IF YOU COMMENT YOU'RE ONE OF THE BEST PEOPLE IN THE WORLD TO ME!! THIS WAS A CAPSLOCK PSA


	8. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sunwoo is a little shit (what a surprise...) 
> 
> The Boyz are forever confused
> 
> A new piece of the puzzle is uncovered
> 
> And how exactly do Sunwoo and Jeonghan know eachother?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hehe

Everyone froze.

Eric barely had the time to gasp before a yell from behind him shook him out of his stupor, multiple members from Seventeen jumping up and running towards them. He shared a wide eyed look with Younghoon, who still had his hand out from where he tried to catch Sunwoo, and they both jumped up. They paused when they heard loud laughter however. Minghao came to halt beside him, straightening up with a tilted head.

“Yah, Sunwoo, you almost gave me a heart attack.” Jeonghan scolded, blinking rapidly.

Sunwoo huffed but didn’t let him go, even when Jeonghan sat up. Jeonghan didn’t seem to mind, hugging him even closer with suspiciously wet eyes.

“Hyung, what is…” Mingyu didn’t manage to finish his question, probably wondering _what_ he should question first. But it got Jeonghan’s attention and a soft little smile slipped onto his lips.

“Eric,” He sat up straight when he was addressed, barely holding back his flailing, “I owe you my life.”

His head snapped over to Sangyeon, who looked just as confused as he did. He turned back around and was about to ask what was going on, because _what the hell, Yoon Jeonghan just said he owed him his life?!_ , when a hand on his shoulder stopped him.

He had to call upon all his self-control to not jump up again, _freaking Choi Seungcheol was squeezing his shoulder??!_ He knew that they were both technically part of the Professors elite squad, but Seventeen was one of the oldest and most legendary teams. It was almost a dream come true to be this close to their _leader_. And it wasn’t like Seventeen was untouchable, they had friends even in his team, but personally had never talked with the leader, the one even _Sangyeon_ looked up to. This-

He was cut out of his fanboy dream come true when Choi Seungcheol started talking, his voice soft. “Hannie, what do you mean? And who’s this?”

Jeonghan’s smile widened when he looked down on the boy in his lap. His eyes were definitely wet now.

“Cheollie, ” A tear finally broke free from his eyes, and Joshua immediately was at his side. He frowned when he was waved off. “I owe Eric my life, because the boy he saved, saved me.”

He was glad he managed to stay sitting now, because he could barely feel his legs. Sunwoo, their Sunwoo, knife wielding manic Sunwoo, Sunwoo who literally looked five seconds away from killing _anyone_ Sunwoo, saved Yoon Jeonghan? His head was spinning and he actively had to focus on Joshua when he spoke, his usually soft voice making it even harder to focus.

“Would you like to introduce us, Hannie?” Joshua asked quietly, worry evident in his voice.

His smile turned blinding, and Eric was pretty sure he could _taste_ the confusion in the air.

“Do you remember when I told you about my personal lucky charm?” He offered instead, his gaze soft as he gently carded his hand through Sunwoo’s muted red hair.

It was surprisingly Wonwoo who spoke up, having sat down where Sunwoo was sitting prior. “Yeah, you said that even though you were born lucky, your personal lucky charm always kept you safe.”

Jeonghan nodded, a pleased smile on his face. “I neglected to tell you that my lucky charm was never a _thing_ , but a him.” Eric’s shot towards Younghoon, who was intently studying the pair in front of them. Maybe Sunwoo’s power was luck after all? Younghoon threw it out there when he didn’t show signs of anything else but Kevin kept saying he had to have an active mental ability. Eric would’ve thought he was human if he hadn’t seen his eyes shine that day.

Seungcheol’s voice was still soft, but the slightly tightening grip on his shoulder showed his annoyance. “Hannie, what is he to you?”

Jeonghan looked up to him with a tilted head, smile slightly dimmed. He was about to answer when Sunwoo finally moved, untangling his limbs from around him. He turned around while slowly getting up, his eyes suspiciously wet too. Jeonghan was at his shoulder not even a second later, studying his face for the slightest second before dropping his smile, features smoothening out in a scarily familiar motion.

“Isn’t is obvious, _Cheollie_?” Sunwoo’s tone was cutting, one eyebrow raised. He felt Seungcheol flinch the tiniest bit, his hand falling from his shoulder. Jeonghan’s jaw clenched but he otherwise didn’t do anything, standing resolutely behind Sunwoo.

“There is no need for that,” Joshua scolded, standing up too, “We were just wondering why our _boyfriend_ seems so attached to a random guy.”

Eric shared a wide-eyed look with Changmin, Jeonghan let out a deep sigh and briefly closed his eyes while Sunwoo titled his head. “You have boyfriend _s_ hyung?”

Jeonghan’s eyes shot briefly towards Seungcheol and Joshua before meeting Sunwoo’s eyes again, and he clenched his jaw when Sunwoo turned around. Sunwoo’s amused gaze found Seungcheol’s again, and Eric’s hackles raised. He recognized that look, the empty smile and cold eyes. He felt the smallest slither of fear crawl up his spine when Jeonghan had an eerily similar look on his face, minus the smile.

“Then Han-Han must have failed you to inform of one small thing.” He said slowly, dragging each word out. Eric clenched his jaw when Sunwoo didn’t continue, letting the silence ring on uncomfortably long.

Seungkwan snapped, voice rough and demanding. “What did hyung not _inform_ us about?”

His eyes flashed, an emotion passing through he couldn’t decipher, but his scarily cold mask was back faster than he could blink and he wondered if he imagined it.

“That I’m his younger brother.”

~

Jeonghan all but dragged him out of there after his little fact bomb. He kept his face straight while his hyung dragged him, although he couldn’t hide his shaking shoulders. He finally let himself laugh when Jeonghan almost threw him into a random room, closing the door behind him.

He crossed his arms and sat leaned against a desk, tilting his head with an unimpressed face. “Are you quite done yet?”

He allowed a few more chuckles to escape him before he straightened up, a smile on his face. Jeonghan visibly softened when he saw it and sighed, running his hand through his hair.

“It wasn’t even that funny.”

“Are you kidding me? One of your little _boytoys_ literally fell over.” He paused when Jeonghan’s face soured.

“Don’t call them that.”

Sunwoo blinked, turning to fully face his hyung. Jeonghan had never snapped at him like that before. He had never glared at him like that before either, especially over something as trivial as his little _escapades_. A short, sharp laugh escaped him and he pushed down the guilt when Jeonghan shifted, looking away from him. “You don’t actually love them, do you?”

Jeonghan licked his lips before clearing his throat. “Lucky,” He clenched his jaw at the nickname, “It’s different here. We can do what we want and when we want it, we can chose who we love and we can be fr-“

“Do not,” His voice almost failed him, “say that word, you _know_ that’s not true hyung!”

“It’s true Sunu!” He yelled over him, standing straight. “I didn’t believe it at first either. I tried to use Joshua and Seungcheol to my advantage, tried to make them believe I was fitting in, make them believe I was actually trying, and then disappear without a trace. And I _know_ you’re doing the same thing, otherwise you would’ve just barricaded the room they gave you.” Sunwoo glared at him harshly, but Jeonghan didn’t shrink or back away. He looked him right in the eye. He tried to hide his shock, Jeonghan had never dared to do that back home.

Sunwoo laughed coldly, looking away when his hyung flinched. _How far he had the angel fallen, tamed by these, by these **rats**_. “You don’t truly believe that you can build a life here, do you?” He snorted when Jeonghan couldn’t even look at him. “You know _he_ won’t let us live in peace, it’s selfish to stay here and give these people hope, give _yourself_ hope. People like us aren’t made to be loved, we’re made for a purpose and one purpose only-“

“Shut up.” Jeonghan’s voice shook.

He talked over him, his voice no more than a hiss. “People like us, _mutants_ like us, weren’t made for love. We are made to fight and serve our master and lord. We are not meant to be _free_ , hell we aren’t even _born_ to be _normal_ , let alone _made._ If you re-“

He flinched, trying to duck out of the way, but Jeonghan already had his collar gripped tight and slammed him into the wall behind him, a strangled groan leaving his lips. His shoulders ached as Jeonghan pushed him further into the wall, looming over him.

“I said _shut up_ Kim Sunwoo.” He hissed in his face. “I _know_ you don’t believe everything you just said, otherwise you wouldn’t even _be_ here. You wouldn’t have ran away, you would’ve stayed _exactly_ where you were, _exactly_ where you got _me_ and so many _away_ from. So stop being an idiotic simpleton and listen to your hyung.”

Guilt twisted his hyung’s face as realized what he did. He slowly stepped away, fixing his collar with gentle hands. Sunwoo looked away, not moving from his place against the wall as he discreetly wiped his eyes. He couldn’t hold back his flinch as his head was moved to face his hyung again, the fingers on his jaw deceivingly gentle.

Soft fabric wiped away the tears he missed, and Jeonghan tutted. “None of that now Sunwoo, aren’t you happy to see me again?” He glared at his futile attempt to cheer him up. “Look, hyung is sorry, I shouldn’t have done that, and I promise you I will _never_ do it again. But you _have_ to be believe me when I say we _can_ be free here.”

He moved his head away and shook it, covering his face with his hands. They couldn’t be _free_ , they would always have to run, _he_ will always find a way to find them, no matter what. Why wouldn’t his hyung _listen_?! He knew the man better than Sunwoo, he knew how awful he was. _Why_?!

“Lucky, can I hug you?”

Before the words even left his mouth Sunwoo surged forward, tucking his head just under his chin. Jeonghan cooed at him and squeezed him tightly, swaying them gently from side to side. He bit his lips to keep his sobs at bay, horrified that the stupid tears were leaking from his eyes already.

“There’s no need to hold back Sunu, it’s just us here, just hyung.” He hummed in his ear, one hand coming up to gently brush through his hair again. He tucked his face even closer to his neck, relaxing in his arms while quiet sobs left him. _This_ was familiar, his hyung comforting him in the shadows, where no one could see their small moment of weakness. 

“I know it may be hard to grasp,” Jeonghan started softly, the soft hand carding through his hair relaxing his still tensed muscles,” I know it took even me a while to truly believe it, but we _can_ be free here. These people take good care of their own, and they know how to protect themselves. Even if that wretched man somehow finds us, he can’t get to us while we stay here, I wouldn’t have stayed if that was the case.” Sunwoo shook his head again, squeezing him tighter.

He huffed when Jeonghan squeezed him back, tugging at his hair the slightest bit. “If they take such good care of their own, then why did they take my ability away?”

Jeonghan froze and pulled away the slightest bit, thankfully not letting go. He wasn’t sure he would be able to stay standing if he did.

“They did _what?”_ His voice didn’t raise, but it did get harsher.

Sunwoo let out a shaky breath before answering, “They took me back here against my will and then did something to me and since then I can’t use it.”

Jeonghan looked confused for a moment before his face cleared up. “You meant they got the suppressors out of your system?”

His head snapped up. “How do you know about that?”

“They did the same to me when I first got here.” At Sunwoo’s look he laughed, messing up his hair, “I’m fine Lucky, don’t worry about me. I had trouble using my ability too after, apparently keeping us drugged up and docile kept us from truly using our abilities to our full potential, so our bodies need to get to used to it again. It took me about a week to even light my finger, let alone disappear.”

At Sunwoo dubious look he laughed again and stepped away, spreading out his arms. Not a second later the whole room was illuminated, a strong, white light pulsing through the room. Jeonghan smirked at him from the middle of it, but he barely noticed it as he looked around. He knew his hyung could manipulate light, and even make some himself to a small extent. But this, this was _amazing_.

“Hyung, how…?”

Jeonghan smiled as he slightly dimmed his light, only a soft glow emitting from him. “It’s like I told you Sunwoo. Back at that place they kept us drugged up from fear of our full potential, it’s why I passed out if I used my light so much, and where you got your migraines from!”

Sunwoo shakily took his wrist and turned it around, marveling at the light that seemed to flow through his veins. “Are you saying I’m gonna get it back?”

Jeonghan’s smile softened, an almost motherly feel to it. “You will not only get it back, it will be stronger than ever. _You_ will be stronger than ever. And you will get the training you need for all of that right here.”

His tentative smile faded at his hyung’s words. “I can’t stay.”

“ _What_?”

He tensed the slightest bit at his hyung’s tone, not in the mood for another scolding. “I mean that I still need to find a few people before I can even think of settling down somewhere.”

Jeonghan tilted his head and frowned, before understanding downed on his face. A blinding smile lit up his features as he gripped his shoulders, excitement barely kept a bay. “You crazy little shit, don’t tell me you actually pulled it off?!”

He smirked and nodded, gripping his wrist in a tight grip.

“You didn’t really think I would leave our mother and sister behind, did you?”

He laughed gleefully, giving him a quick but tight hug again. “My little genius lucky charm, where are they?”

He flushed at praise and grimaced at the question. “Yeah, that’s the thing.” He laughed awkwardly while rubbing the back of his neck. “I was supposed to get in touch with them _after_ I got out.”

Jeonghan nodded, rubbing his chin. “So that if they somehow caught you, they wouldn’t get the location from you and had time to disappear.”

He nodded, glad his hyung followed his line of thinking. “I haven’t been able to get in touch with them yet, but when I do I’m going to get them.”

Jeonghan nodded, pursing his lips slightly. “You are not.”

“ _What?_ ”

Jeonghan flicked him on the head when he glared at him. “ _You_ are not, I’ll be doing this.” He raised an eyebrow when he was about to rebuke. “You have done enough Sunwoo, it’s time I did something. Give me everything you have and I’ll take care of it. You deserve some peace for now.”

He gaped at his hyung before a large smile pulled at his lips, the muscles in his face strained from the overuse. Jeonghan laughed loudly and genuinely, pulling him into another hug.

He took in a deep breath as he pulled away, clearing his throat uncomfortably. Jeonghan just grinned at him, his hyung always liked skin ship more than he did, and was far more comfortable with it.

“Should I walk you back to your room?” Jeonghan offered, gesturing towards the door.

Sunwoo sighed, a grimace taking over his face. He just knew Eric was going to be in his room, waiting with his stupid question and the unlucky people he managed to drag along. He really didn’t have the energy to deal with that right now.

Jeonghan looked at him with an amused glint in his eyes. “ _Or_ you could spend the night with me, I have my own room.”

He frowned. “I do too.”

“You’re staying in one of the guest rooms, you’ll have to move to the dorms somewhere next week. And as is customary, you’ll have to room with the team that saved you, so you can look forward to that.” Jeonghan corrected.

He groaned loudly, throwing his head back. Jeonghan simply laughed at him again before walking towards the door.

He glared at his hyung as he opened the door, head tilted with a clenched jaw.

_I’ll show you the mistake of trusting rats hyung, just as you showed me._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> yes, this is short. i had to cut the chapter in half bc it honestly was getting too long.
> 
> Still hope you guys liked it!!
> 
> And remember, comments give me life, even if you scream at me in them XD


	9. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sunwoo is still a brat, but a cute one
> 
> Jeonghan is the best brother
> 
> And Younghoon knows what he's doing (probably)

_They were gone_

Those were the only thoughts roaming through Younghoon’s head as he and Jacob tore through every room in the infirmary wing. _Yes_ they had a whole wing of the building dedicated to the infirmary, in a school of mutants it was _kind_ of a must. Eric was ahead of them, a blurry mess zig zagging between the rooms.

He took a deep breath and shared a look with Jacob, who simply nodded and waved for him to go ahead, turning around to hunt down Eric. He was going to head down towards the cafeteria and inform the group of their little situation. Normally they would send Eric ahead, superspeed and all, but he wasn’t leaving until he checked every room. At least that’s as much as he told them before he started his manhunt.

He had gotten a weird feeling when Jeonghan hadn’t shown up for breakfast, and had immediately volunteered to go with Eric when he announced he would be trying to convince Sunwoo to eat with them again. He had hoped that maybe his apparent older brother had spoken some sense into him, but it seemed it was the other way around. He _had_ entertained the thought something like this could happen, but Jeonghan was happy here, he had his boyfriends and his team, who he loved more than anything. But he had known his answer when they couldn’t find that damned backpack of his anywhere, they had even searched the damn vents at Eric’s request.

He shook his head, trying to keep a clear head as walked through the permanently propped open doors of the cafeteria. Don’t ask him why they never closed, when he got here it was already like this and the only answer he had gotten when he’d asked was ‘ _mutants are a horror when hungry_ ’ and he had just left it at that.

Sangyeon, as usual, was the first one to spot him. His smile slid of his face when he saw his grimace however. Hyunjae turned around a second later, cutting off his conversation with Chanhee to peer behind him. Hyunjae hadn’t hid his distrust or dislike for Sunwoo the second the guy was carried over the threshold, but he couldn’t really blame the shifter, nothing Sunwoo had done since he came here had raised any sense of trust. Not that they had either, but that was beside the point. The only reason he was willing to give the guy a chance was because of his little ‘weak’ moment right after his Kevin induced episode, and he was weak for cute things. And Sunwoo tended to be very cute. The guy _pouted_ whenever he was annoyed.

“What did the gremlin do now?”

He was rudely pulled out of his musings as Hyunjae yelled the question over to him. He didn’t miss the several heads popping up a few tables over.

_No wonder **only** Jeonghan is known for his discretion._

“We can’t find him and his stuff is gone.” He answered, holding back an amused smile when Seventeen’s table suddenly got very noisy.

Sangyeon shot a quick look behind him and raised a questioning eyebrow at him. “Jacob and Eric are still upstairs.”

Sangyeon nodded, the worried glint in his eyes easing the slightest bit. He knew their oldest hyung was worried for Eric, everyone was on a daily basis, but ever since Sunwoo came along his impulsive tendencies seemed to have doubled. He was trying very hard to be his friend and Younghoon didn’t have it in him to tell him that he and Sunwoo would probably never be friends. He knew a street rat when he saw one, and no matter how much Hyunjae believed their guest was one, no street rat could talk or act like that.

“Excuse us,” He looked up to see the whole of Seventeen standing by their table, “but did you say that Sunwoo was missing?”

He shared another look with Sangyeon and at his nod he faced the obvious nervous leader. It was almost cute how much he tried to hide it. “We were going to invite Sunwoo to eat with us again, but when we got to his room he wasn’t there and his stuff was gone.”

“B-but,” Seokmin tried, voice quiet, “he could just be exploring, that’s what I did when I first got here.”

Younghoon had the decency to at least try and look apologetic. “I’m sorry, but Sunwoo only left his room if he absolutely needed. And I’m guessing Jeonghan hyung is missing too?”

He didn’t need them to confirm anything, their faces said enough. He sighed and turned to his leader again. “We were going to check the training room and the gardens too, but I thought we could use some help to cover more ground.”

“Good thinking, take Hyunjae and Juyeon with you to the gardens, maybe they can sniff out if he even went outside. The rest of us will go check the training area.”

“We’re helping too, our teammate is missing as well and I think it’s not a coincidence.” Seungcheol interrupted, the sudden perfect picture of a leader. “We’ll take the rest of the outside and the dorms. Rendezvous at the main halls?”

Sangyeon nodded, echoing the same to his team with an authoritative voice. Cute, he was trying impress one of his idols.

He waited until Juyeon and Hyunjae joined him, Minghao too after shortly talking with Seungcheol, and started towards the garden.

“Just a fair warning, we took Sunwoo for a short stroll here yesterday, so only focus on fresh scents.” Younghoon warned idly, holding the door open for the three shifters behind him.

Juyeon nodded and went ahead, Minghao shot him a look before nodding also and brushed past him. He pursed his lips when Hyunjae waited for him, the blank look on his face doing nothing to mask his obvious annoyance.

He sighed but started walking, not surprised when Hyunjae immediately followed him at his heel but didn’t say a word. Younghoon bit his lip but stayed quiet, enjoying the nice view of the gardens.

“Why are you trying so hard for this guy?” Hyunjae finally spit out after a few moments of uncomfortable silence.

He chuckled, side eyeing the shifter. “This again?”

“ _Yes_ this again,” Hyunjae moved in front of him, effectively stopping him in his place, “I expected the other guys to forget how dangerous our newest _guest_ is, they’re too gullible for their own good. But not _you_.”

He crossed his arms and tilted his head, not sure if he should be insulted or not.

“Don’t look at me like that, you _know_ what I mean.” Hyunjae backtracked. “We’re the suspicious duo! The last line of defense for our team of too trusting people! You can’t tell me you actually trust the guy?!”

He waited until Hyunjae was done, a little done with the familiar spiel by now. “No I don’t trust him-“

“ _Finally_ someo-“

“-but I also would _like_ the give him the benefit of the doubt.” He finished, shooting Hyunjae a annoyed glare when he opened his mouth again. “You keep saying we can’t trust him, but can he trust us?”

Hyunjae stopped for a moment, a confused look on his face. “What the hell are you talking about?”

“Just bear with me for a minute here,” Younghoon asked, “Just imagine, you’re a mutant, all alone on the streets, probably looking for a place to spend the night. And then you see one of your own people, a mutant, getting humiliated in front of a crowd of humans-“

“Where are you going with this?” Hyunjae sighed, failing to look uninterested. He held up his hands when Younghoon shot him a small glare.

“So you see the mutant,” he continued, “and of course you help, because that’s one of your people there. But before you can help even _more_ mutants show up and help the one who needed it. So you decide ‘alright, that’s it’ and move on, but before you can one of the mutants starts annoying you and wants to help while you’re convinced you don’t need it. You manage to get away without much trouble and find a place to settle down for the night, only for that same mutant to find you again, with a big group this time.”

Hyunjae looked at the ground, jaw clenched.

“And they don’t find you at first, and you think you might get away, but then they scare you _so_ badly you fall of a very high ledge and _somehow_ only walk away with slightly cracked ribs. You find out that the mutant who tried to help you actually somehow followed you and, of course, you would get mad, right?”

“I guess…” Hyunjae sighed, looking anywhere but him.

“Then you try to punch said mutant, but an idiot who didn’t know the whole story back then tackles you and cracks your head open in the process. Next thing you know, you wake up in an unfamiliar place, all your stuff’s gone and you can’t use your ability. You start to search for you stuff and meet the leader there, and then a little later the team who quite literally kidnapped you, and then one of them makes you relive a memory you would rather forget.” He took a deep breath after his little story.

“Interesting story hyung, why did you bother to tell me?” Hyunjae bit out, although he did look less angry than before.

“All I’m saying is, even though we can’t trust him yet, he has no reason to trust us either. So keep that in mind for the future.” He said with bright smile, patting him on his shoulder before brushing past him.

He sighed in relief when Hyunjae moved towards Juyeon, the hard line in his shoulders dropping. He was annoyed by his constant pestering, but he couldn’t really blame him. If he hadn’t looked after Sunwoo those three days, he would have probably been in the same boat as his friend. But Sunwoo’s mask wasn’t as perfect as he thought it was, and the boy underneath was calling for help, even if he didn’t realize it.

He frowned when he stepped on something, once again pulled out of his thoughts. He lifted his feet and frowned when he saw an earring laying there. He crouched and picked it up and turned it, marveling at how it glittered in the sun. It _looked_ like silver, but didn’t _feel_ like regular silver. If he had to take a guess he had to say it was pure silver, but pure silver wasn’t used in jewelry, it was too expensive and too breakable for that. And there was no way pure silver could form such a perfect small hoop, or have engravings like that. But the glittering looked eerily similar to…

“Juyeon.”

He had barely uttered the word before the shifter appeared next to him, Hyunjae and Minghao on his heels. He wordlessly handed him the small piece of jewelry and stared down the small running path it was facing. He wanted to take a closer look at the engravings, but he would need clear light and pair of glasses for that.

“It smells like Sunwoo, and it was recent. Maybe fifteen to twenty minutes ago-“

“-It smells faintly of hyung too.” Minghao interjected, eyes focused on the small earring. 

He held his hand out and the piece of jewelry was dropped in it a moment later. He stood up and started towards the running path, turning his head sideways. If he remembered correctly this path actually led somewhere…

“Someone text the groups, I think we’re on the right track.”

~

“You are _such_ a mess.”

Jeonghan glared at him as well as he could, which was not that well. He was gasping for air, hands on his knees and shirt plastered to his back.

“Shut,” gasp, “The fuck up.”

Just to be annoying he started jogging in circles around him. “I knew you never had the best stamina back in your day, but _come on_ we have been jogging for like _ten_ minutes!”

Jeonghan gave him a look as he finally stood straight, hands on his hips. “Kim Sunwoo, _that_ was not _jogging_!-“

“-Yes it _was_!-”

“-You call running at top speed like a _maniac_ and jumping like a damn cat through whatever _that_ was running?!-”

“-Oh my _god_ , when did you get this soft?!-“

“-Where did you even learn to jump like that?! You couldn’t do that when I le-“

“-That’s all you noticed? Not how you _literally_ are so out of shape I could kick your ass right now and you probably couldn’t do shit to stop me?” Sunwoo scoffed.

Jeonghan glowered at him before whacking him in the head, shoving him through the previously opened doors. “Just shut your mouth while I make us some breakfast.”

He gasped, turning around with wide eyes. “You can _cook_?!”

That earned him another shove and he laughed while he stumbled over the threshold. Jeonghan muttered something that suspiciously close to ‘brat’ while he got whatever the hell he needed to cook.

“What’re you making hyung?” He questioned, wandering over to the small bookcase just to the side of the door. He deflated when there were only cookbooks. _What did I even expect?_

“Eggs and bacon, now set the table while hyung cooks.” He answered distractedly, gesturing vaguely towards a corner of the kitchen.

He sighed loudly, padding over to the corner Jeonghan pointed at. “There isn’t even _a_ table, what am I supposed to set?” He muttered under his breath.

He did _not_ squeak when something hard hit the back of his head, no matter what Jeonghan tells you. He whipped around and glared at his hyung in disbelief. “What the fu-“

“You can set everything up on the island Sunu, don’t be daft.”

He gritted his teeth and turned to the cupboards, the familiar burn in his eyes comforting him. One quick glance told him the last two cupboards and a drawer right underneath contained everything he needed. He blinked a few times while he opened them.

“Have you ever thought about eye drops?”

He turned with a small frown on his face, plates in hand. “Huh?”

Jeonghan didn’t turn to face him, idly throwing something into the pan in front of him. “You always complained that your eyes got dry back home, did that change?”

He rolled his eyes slightly as he carried his bounty over to the island, slowly setting everything up. “You know it’s because my concentration easily breaks if I blink, and eyes get dry when you don’t blink.” He answered vaguely.

A small huff sounded behind. “So do you want me to look into the eye drops or not?”

“I don’t know.”

“ _You_ don’t know?” Jeonghan sounded faintly amused.

He held back his sigh as he put the cutlery down. “I don’t want them to know what I can do, alright?” He snapped, sitting down.

“ _Sunu_ ,” he hunched his shoulders at the familiar tone, “They won’t care about what kind of ability you have.”

“You say that now.” He scoffed.

“And I know it won’t change.” He responded back immediately. “The only reason they want to know is to understand you better, to help you reach your fullest potential should you wish to do so.”

He leaned his head on his hand with scrunched up brows. “Yeah, yeah, what about breakfast?”

He shot him a look over his shoulder, “You’re gonna get wrinkles if keep doing that Sunu.”

He scrunched his eyebrows even more, ignoring Jeonghan’s disapproving look as he brought the pan over. To Sunwoo’s surprise it didn’t even smell that bad.

“You don’t have to look at me like that, I did learn a few useful skills here.” Jeonghan reprimanded him, scooping him a generous plate.

He glanced from the plate to his hyung with a skeptical look on his face.

“Stop it with the looks _Lucky_ ,” He scowled at the nickname, “You’re literally skin over bones and, _yes_ , it’s edible.” As if to prove his own point he took a big bite and held his thumb up.

“Of course _you_ can eat it, you made it.” He muttered, skeptically touching the bacon.

Jeonghan chuckled and took another bite. “Complain all you want Sunu, you’re not leaving until that plate’s empty.”

He huffed but took a smile bite out of the eggs, surprised when it didn’t actually taste _that_ bad. He hummed in slight appreciation, ignoring his hyungs smug look. He flicked his hair to the side when he went and tried the bacon.

“You’re getting a haircut.”

He glanced at his brother with one raised eyebrow, “And since when do you decide that?”

“Since you look like a himbo with that hair, do you wanna be able to wear a manbun again or something?”

He shuddered at words, manbuns were a no-go for him. His hair always got tangled into the hair ties and it was just a general mess.

“No,” He muttered, “but it’s not like I could just _get_ a haircut on the streets.”

Jeonghan hummed in response. He fell silent after that.

“I can cut it for you-“

“You are _not_ getting anywhere _near_ my face with _scissors_.” He denied quickly.

“Oh _come on_ , Sunu!-“

“2015 hyung, 2015.” He reminded him, covering his hair protectively.

Jeonghan paused and pursed his lips. “I’ve improved since th-“

“ _No_.”

Jeonghan held up his hands in faux peace and they continued eating.

“I can get you those juices bags you love so much.”

“ _Hyung_ -“

_Slam!_

The knife he was going to point at his hyung for emphasis left his hand in an instinctual movement, soaring towards the slammed open door.

“What the _fu_ -“

He turned around to come face to face with an distantly familiar face, and Younghoon behind that person. He looked like he didn’t know whether to be amused or dismayed. He then noticed his knife hanging still in the air and someone pushing through the crowd behind the two people in the doorway.

_Okay, how many people have telekinesis here?_

“Hannie, where have you _been_?!”

_Cheollie and the unnamed boytoy_

“What do you mean?” Jeonghan questioned, looking mildly concerned.

“We couldn’t find you in your room and you didn’t come down for breakfast and your brother was gone too-“

_The boytoys are making my job a **whole** lot easier_

He picked up his plate and made sure to move closely behind his hyung. “Is this the trust you were talking about?” He pushed away the guilt when his shoulders tensed.

“Don’t worry _Cheollie_ ,” The concerned gaze turned into the slightest glare when he spoke, “I didn’t steal away my brother quite yet.”

“You little br-“

“Sunwoo,” Younghoon interrupted the tiny guy, “I think you lost something.”

He looked over his shoulder with a frown when he saw the familiar shine. His hands shot to his ear and he paled when he noticed the lack of anything in his left ear.

“Give that back right now.” He hissed, grabbing Jeonghan’s knife.

Younghoon stared at him, unimpressed. He walked forward, eased the knife out of his hand and dropped the earring in it ~~somehow making no skin to skin contact while he did so~~. Sunwoo simply glowered at him throughout it. Screw Younghoon and his scarce knowledge about him.

_Those damn three days keep screwing me over_

“Dumbass.” He muttered under his breath, ignoring the looks from the people around him, especially Jeonghan’s.

“It’s not like you would have thrown it anyway, grump.”

He scoffed and pointed towards the still levitating knife. “Then what the hell is that, dumbass?!”

“That’s your muscle memory.” He gaped at him as he sat down, head in hand.

“I hate you.”

“Sure you do.” He smiled.

He glared at him while he fiddled with his earring, struggling slightly with his hair. Maybe he _did_ need a haircut after all…

“ _You still have that?_ ”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Is Sunwoo really softening towards Younghoon??
> 
> Remember, comments give me life!!!
> 
> CAPSLOCK PSA, I'M GONNA CHANGE MY USERNAME TO pixie0235, SO DON'T BE ALARMED WHEN THE FIC GETS UPDATED AND THERE IS A DIFFERENT NAME!


	10. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sunwoo is trying (?)
> 
> Jeonghan has his own agenda
> 
> Younghoon knows Sunwoo better than he'd like to admit
> 
> And a new friend is made

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> not beta'd, i'm sorry, just point out the mistakes in the comments please.... XD

His hand froze.

He glanced at Jeonghan from the corner of his eye, intentionally moving his hair to hide his ear after fastening the earring. He clenched his jaw when the easy smile from before was gone and a calculating one was in its place. He snatched his plate away, moving away from that look as fast he could.

“Yeah, what’s it to you? Remind you of something?” He asked airily, conscious of the eyes still watching them. Did anyone ever teach them it was rude to stare?

Jeonghan clicked his tongue before getting up, moving towards one of his boytoys. Apparently they not only softened him but also eased his temper. Shame, his hyung’s temper was always something to look forward too.

He barely glanced over his shoulder as his hyung called his name again, sending a short glare at Blondie as he came over with the remaining cutlery and picked up a towel. He could wash the dishes himself just fine, thank you.

“Since we didn’t really get a chance to do introductions yesterday,” He stiffened the tiniest bit, ignoring Eric’s questioning gaze, “Sunwoo meet-“

“-I’m sorry hyung, but we actually need to steal Sunwoo away for a second.” He kept his eyes glued to the last plate he was washing, slightly surprised Younghoon had managed to creep so close to him. He sent him a small glare and was pleased when he moved back, hands raised.

His eyes shot quickly towards the tall male, intentionally missing Eric’s open hand and placing the wet plate on the countertop. What was the ice-freak exactly planning? He turned around and leaned against the sink, snatching Eric’s towel away the second he was done to dry his hands. He wished he could somehow use his ability to tip the odds in Younghoon’s favor, because meeting his brothers newest boytoys was _not_ at the top of his priority list, but he could only see who was going to win this.

Not that he was _going_ to, he still thought it was a bad idea for _anyone_ to know about him and his ability. But the _temptation_ was there.

Jeonghan’s eyes met his, and he did _not_ like the glint in them. He knew that glint, he _invented_ that glint. He shifted in his place and was glad when Jeonghan’s gaze left him.

“Oh _do_ you?” He drawled. “I thought I made it clear Sunwoo was going to stay with _me_?”

He raised one unimpressed eyebrow but otherwise didn’t comment. He wasn’t aware of this new arrangement, or when Jeonghan had found the time to even make that happen. The smallest smirk crossed his face when he realized what his hyung was doing.

“ _What_?! No! Sunwoo is-“ he had to hold back his chuckle when Younghoon whacked Eric into silence.

“What my loud friend is trying to say,” He shot Eric another glare, “is that Professor Taemin told us we had to help him move into _our_ dorms today, and that you two weren’t allowed to room together for fear of _you_ reverting.”

He had trouble keeping his surprise to himself. Why weren’t they immediately trying to dump him at his brother’s? He had brought hem nothing but trouble, it would be the easy and smart thing to do. But then again, this particular group of individuals never seemed to like doing things the easy way, or smart for that matter.

Jeonghan tilted his head and Sunwoo felt the smallest flicker of excitement race up his spine, maybe his brothers temper wasn’t _completely_ gone?

“Sunu,” He straightened up, trying to hide his surprise at being spoken too, “Can you tell me which one of us is going to win this argument? I don’t have all day.”

He clenched his jaw and sent his brother a dark glare. He thought his brother respected his wish, but it seems he had his own agenda as well. His irritation spiked when he saw the rest of ‘The Boyz’ move closer. They could at least _try_ to hide their eagerness.

“I don’t feel like-“

“I wasn’t asking Sunwoo.”

He clenched his jaw, hiding his pleased smile when _Cheollie_ simply looked at Jeonghan, eyes wide and mouth open. If his hyung kept acting like this maybe he wouldn’t have to do much at all…

“If he doesn’t want to you can’t force him.” He was surprised when the pink haired guy spoke, a hard glare on his face.

_Chanhee_

Jeonghan chuckled but didn’t break their stare, a familiar smile on his face. He clenched his jaw and broke their stare, his eyes flashing towards Chanhee for the slightest second, hoping he saw the quiet gratitude in there, not many people had the guts to go against Jeonghan, before he sighed. Jeonghan wasn’t going to let him leave before he did _something_.

“Sunwoo you don’t have too-“ He ignored Eric as he took in a deep breath, the familiar burning _almost_ making him relax.

His sight bettered significantly and his messy handwriting quickly filled his vision, almost overwhelming him. He was used to the flood of information, but he never got this _much_. Every single possibility filtered into his mind’s eye, more than he thought ever _existed_. The smallest chuckle escaped him, his gaze flitting across the room.

_That hideous green vase was about to fall over_

_That door could only handle one more person before it would start to crack_

_The tall lanky guy near the back was about to fall sleep and most likely fall over_

_That carpet had a_ -

He tried to reign it in , his eyes still snapping from every corner of the room to take everything in, but at a more controlled pace. He _wasn’t_ a child and this _wasn’t_ anything new.

_Although it has been ages since it was as easy like this_

Was this what hyung meant by stronger…?

“I’m guessing I lose?”

His eyes shot towards his hyung, and he almost asked what he was talking about when he remembered _why_ he was even doing this in the first place. He glanced between his brother and Younghoon, needing a second to even pick out the _right_ percentage.

“Yeah, you lose hyung.” He shook his head as he forced his eyes back to normal. He already missed the familiar burn, and was actually glad that whatever the Professor did didn’t take that away.

He could see Younghoon smirking from the corner of his eye but he couldn’t focus on it.

If he could see so much, then what could he do once he figured out how his ability worked again?

And Jeonghan did _not_ need to know the odds were actually in his favor.

~

“Where are we going?”

He looked around the hallway, which actually looked vaguely familiar.

“To the training room, trainer Jeon issued another training when he heard you were gonna be training with us for next unforeseeable future.” Jacob answered, the only one he allowed to walk beside him.

He smirked, not even bothering to hide it. If Jeon’s attitude from last time was any indication, then he would get the beat some people into a pulp today, and he hoped one of them was Eric.

“I don’t like that look.”

He huffed but didn’t answer the obviously amused empath, he walked ahead and didn’t spare a glance towards the boy holding the door open for him. What was this one’s name again?, he doesn’t remember anyone telling him.

He nodded respectfully towards Jeon and moved towards the side of the room, faintly recalling seeing some sort of yoga mats over there last time. He only got to do half of his usual stretches before someone was bothering him again.

“Sunwoo?” He glanced to the side to see the guy who held open the door for him, “I’m Hyunjoon, if you didn’t know already, and uhm, I was hoping you could give me some pointers?”

He paused and stepped out of his lunge, turning to face _Hyunjoon_. “Pointers on what?”

“Knife throwing…?”

At his look he fumbled a little.

“I mean, I don’t have super strength or a combative ability, so I have to rely on what I can do…”

He tuned him out as he rambled, tilting his head as he assessed him. He was a little taller than he was, give or take an inch and he was on the leaner side with no obvious mutations he could see. He guessed that he had some muscle, based on the way his shirt was tight on him, but not overly so. He carried himself with practiced ease and his back was straight. In short, he looked deceptively weak.

“A humanoid shifter,” Hyunjoon shut up at his guess and he smirked the tiniest bit, “those are rare, normally you only get animal shifters like your two friends.”

His eyes widened the slightest bit as Sunwoo gestured to Juyeon and Hyunjae. “How did you-“

“Not the point.” He waved him off. “Have you ever thrown a knife before?”

Hyunjoon eyes lit up and he nodded. “Trainer Jeon has tried to teach me a few things, but knives aren’t his specialty so…” He trailed off, rubbing the back of his neck.

He pursed his lips and looked him straight in his eyes, smoothing his face over. Helping him could be beneficial, or it could bite him in the ass later. He looked away from his eyes, the hope in them making him uncomfortable.

“Show me what you got.”

“Wait, really?!-“

“Follow me before I change my mind.” He snapped, gesturing vaguely towards the small throwing rink.

He bit back his smile as he heard him rushing to catch up.

~

“I don’t like this.”

“You don’t like anything involving Sunwoo.” Eric quipped back, juggling a few small balls.

Hyunjae grunted at him but didn’t take his eyes away from Hyunjoon’s figure, who managed to finally scrape enough courage together to try and ask Sunwoo for help. The poor boy had been trying for days to do so, but chickened out every time. It was his and Eric’s words that finally gave him the confidence boost he needed.

“He has a point you know,” Hyunjae glared at him as he spoke, “Sunwoo is his best shot at knife throwing, you’ve seen his skill.”

“I _know_ Juyeon, doesn’t mean I have to like it.” He bit out.

Juyeon squeezed his shoulder, not looking away from the odd pair either. But he at least _tried_ to be subtle.

“I don’t know what you’re worrying about, Sunwoo is going to reject him anyway.” Younghoon chuckled, patting him on the shoulder. Both shifters relaxed the slightest bit at his words. No matter how good Hyunjoon was at fighting or how adept he was bullshitting his way out of everything, those two would always stay protective of their youngest boyfriend.

“Didn’t you agree with _me_ like a second ago?” Eric gave him the stink eye.

He laughed and slapped him on shoulder. “Just because I wanted Hyunjoon to try it, doesn’t mean I _actually_ think Sunwoo’s going to say yes.”

Their heads snapped over in scary unison as a familiar voice chuckled near them. Jungkook glanced at them while keeping most of his attention on the pair currently sparring. “Eric’s right for a change.” He nodded past them.

Younghoon raised his brows the slightest bit and let out a quiet hum. Sunwoo was standing near Hyunjoon, who seemed to getting ready to throw. Color him surprised, he thought Sunwoo was allergic to even hearing the word _help_.

“Oh I gotta see this.” Eric gushed, dropping the balls and speeding away.

Or he tried to. Younghoon had him by the back of his neck with practiced ease. “Do you _want_ to scare him away?” Eric smiled innocently and calmed down a little.

Juyeon chuckled the slightest bit and kept his arm tight over Hyunjae’s shoulders, starting towards the odd pair. He pulled Eric a little closer, letting his arm curl around his shoulders like shackle. “You better think thrice before _anything_ comes out of your mouth, got it?”

Eric grumbled but nodded, obviously not wanting to ruin Hyunjoon’s chance either. He smirked when he saw a similar expression on Hyunjae’s face. Those two might bicker the most out of everyone in the group, but they were more alike than they thought.

“Hey Joonie!” Juyeon greeted happily, giving him a kiss on the cheek. “How is it going?”

Sunwoo looked at them from the corner of his eyes for a split second, his eyebrow raising the slightest bit at the kiss. _You sneaky brat, just look if you’re so curious._

Sunwoo softly cleared his throat as Hyunjoon went to respond, looking vaguely impatient. Hyunjae’s face soured, but a tight squeeze from Juyeon kept him quiet.

Younghoon kept the smallest smirk on his lips, knowing it infuriates Sunwoo. He saw the subtle jaw clench and cheered for himself. His gaze jumped to Hyunjoon when he got ready. He winced a little when he barely managed to hit the board.

“I thought you said Jeon gave you some pointers?” Sunwoo’s voice was perfectly even, looking critically over Hyunjoon’s body.

Hyunjoon scratched the back of his neck and chuckled bashfully. “I also told you that knife throwing isn’t his specialty.”

Younghoon saw the little flash of amusement before his mask was back and made sure to hide his little smile. Sunwoo was a good actor, but him and Hyunjoon were too alike for Sunwoo to hate him.

He shot one dirty look towards trainer Jeon, muttering something under his breath before turning back to Hyunjoon. “Alright, since the apparent _professional_ can’t even teach you the basics properly, I’ll give you some pointers.”

He snorted, squeezing Eric the slightest bit as he giggled. His amusement grew as Juyeon had to hold his hands to his mouth, shoulders shaking slightly and even Hyunjae had his lips tightly pursed.

Hyunjoon beamed, hopping on his feet. Sunwoo stared at him for a second, a confused frown on his face.

“Pick up the knife and take your basic position.”

Hyunjoon obeyed and he was actually a little curious whether Sunwoo was even a good teacher.

He huffed while he tilted his head, crossing his arms. “You’re left handed?”

Everyone paused at that. “What?” Hyunjoon lowered his arm in confusion.

“You’re standing in crappy left handed position, so I assumed?” Hyunjoon’s cheeks colored the tiniest bit as he shook his head. Sunwoo quietly exhaled but otherwise didn’t comment.

“Okay, first off, relax.” Hyunjoon shot him an incredulous look. “If you’re not relaxed you’ll never hit your target.” He gave him a few seconds to do so before continuing. “Now stand up straight, _no_ not ramrod straight, just straighten your shoulders the tiniest bit.”

He stared in quiet befuddlement at the scene in front of him, has Sunwoo done this before?

“Alright, now place right foot forward with your left slightly behind.” Sunwoo did as he said and nodded when Hyunjoon followed without fault. “That’s is the basic position, as your skill grows you will slowly develop your own, but right now you stick to this like an alligator to its prey, got it?”

Hyunjoon paled slightly but nodded, looking down at his feet.

“Now show me how you hold the knife.”

Younghoon was actually the slightest bit surprised when Sunwoo willingly stepped closer. He always glared at him if he even got within his very large personal bubble. He clenched his jaw the tiniest bit.

Sunwoo paused and actually _snorted_ when Hyunjoon showed him. “After this, send Jeon my way, I’m gonna have to teach him a thing or two if _this_ is the best he could teach you.”

Hyunjoon chuckled, relaxing more and more. He had to give it to him, Sunwoo was a good teacher until now. _So he **can** actually act like a normal person, duly noted._

“-No you have to kinda hold it like a hammer, no not like that. Your fingers should be under the and your thumb up, no, no.” his usual irritation slowly filtered back into his words and his hands hovered like he wanted to physically correct the hold.

He breathed in a deep breath and one of his hands disappeared behind his back. he raised a brow when an awfully sharp knife appeared out of nowhere. _Well there is my next quest, find out where the hell he keeps his damn knives._

Hyunjoon actually took half a step back and Sunwoo glared darkly at him. “Do _not_ mess up your position, idiot.”

Hyunjoon flushed and quickly tried to step back into his former position, and with one small comment from Sunwoo he got it.

He held his knife, only his thumb on the hilt, the rest of his fingers supporting the underside. Hyunjoon quickly copied. “Like I said, a hammer.” He gave him one more once over, taking a step back. Younghoon’s jaw unconsciously unclenched. “Now, which side of the knife is the heaviest, the actual knife or the hilt?”

Hyunjoon looked confused for a moment before balancing the knife on his hand. “The hilt.”

“Then you hold the actual knife like you just held the hilt, like this.” he showed him shortly, before returning his attention back to the targets.

“Now pick the target across from you and throw.”

Hyunjoon nodded to himself and took in a deep breath. He tried to keep his eyes on Hyunjoon, he really did, but Sunwoo concentrated look was somehow more interesting than Hyunjoon. Maybe it was the fact that this was the first time he genuinely looked calm?

His attention was rudely pulled away from the red head when he heard a loud _thunck_. He looked towards the target and frowned when Hyunjoon’s aim barely improved.

“Not bad, relax your shoulders a bit more when you throw and don’t use your full strength when you do. Gravity will do your job for you as long as your aim is good. I re-“

“Why don’t you do it yourself if you’re such a ‘master’?” Hyunjae snapped. Younghoon sighed. The peace was nice, however short it was.

Hyunjoon shot him an angry glare and Sunwoo barely glanced at him, not even hiding the amusement on his face. His hand disappeared behind his back again and came back with two more knives. He looked Hyunjae right in the eye as he threw all three knives at the same time, nailing the bulls eye in three different targets.

“I’m teaching your boyfriend the basics out of the kindness of my own heart, and you doubt my abilities?” Sunwoo questioned, raising an impressed brow.

“You little-“

“Professor?” Jungkook’s surprised yell echoed.

Sunwoo’s amused look immediately vanished, and an familiar cold look slid over his face like a veil. He stared indifferently towards the steadily coming closer professor.

“Sunwoo, just the person I was looking for!” He called out pleasantly.

He silently cursed at the professor, his arm sliding off Eric’s shoulder. Sunwoo had his knife and a unhealthy amount of hatred for him, why would the professor move so carelessly?

Sunwoo huffed and magicked another knife out of nowhere in existence, performing some admittedly impressive knife acrobatics. The professor wisely stopped close to Eric, not blind to the danger he was putting himself in. _Maybe his ability is teleportation related after all?_

“Do tell Taemin,” he bit his lip at the blatant disrespect, “why was _the_ principle looking for me?”

The Professor’s smile tightened, the only sign of his annoyance.

“I was going to oversee your rehousing into your new dorm, but I found no one there.”

Sunwoo’s jaw clenched for the fourth of a second and he looked at the Professor with almost scarily cold eyes. And believe him, he knew _cold._

“I quite like my room where it is.”

The professor chuckled. “That’s too bad young Sunwoo, those are just temporary rooms for the students who don’t have one yet. You’ll be sharing one with Younghoon.”

Younghoon smirked at the dark look passing over his face, ignoring the small bout of nervousness bubbling in his stomach. _He would be sharing his room with the knife maniac, **great**_.

“Pick the people you want to help you move in and then come back to train.”

“I only have my backpack and I can carry that myself.” Sunwoo idly shared, throwing the knife in his hand with dazzling speed.

He tried to push down the rush of pity flowing through him, if Sunwoo hated anything it was being pitied, being weak, and he didn’t want to set him off with the Professor already there.

The Professor didn’t raise to the bait and kept his eyes focused on Sunwoo.

“Then pick people to go to the mall with,” He turned to Younghoon, “You have my permission to take one of the squad credit cards, be back before dinner.”

Sunwoo looked like he wanted to protest but stayed quiet, his gaze briefly leaving the Professor. He followed his gaze and saw Jungkook’s gaze firmly trained on Sunwoo. _Huh, wonder what that’s about?_

“Have fun shopping, young Sunwoo.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I felt this chapter was a bit rushed due to the fact that i really wanted to update XD. I felt bad you guys had to wait so long, but i just finished a test week and a minor writers block.
> 
> Hope you guys still liked it!!
> 
> Is Sunwoo really softening up, or does he have another plan up his sleeve?
> 
> What is Jeonghan planning?
> 
> And why does Younghoon pay such close attention towards our little brat?
> 
> Remember comments give me life!!!


	11. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sunwoo is forced to go on an shopping trip
> 
> Chanhee is the mvp
> 
> Eric finally gets in Sunwoo's good graces (kind of)
> 
> And Younghoon has a crush

Sunwoo was annoyed.

They were in a car. _They_ being him, Eric, Younghoon and Chanhee. Eric had basically herded him into the car with Younghoon blocking any exit he could potentially use. Chanhee’s helpful spree had ended in the kitchen apparently, because he just watched from behind Younghoon with an amused smile.

Which brought them to where they were now. Him in the passenger seat with an very amused Younghoon behind the wheel, Chanhee on some phone and Eric trying to talk him into putting on his seatbelt.

“Come on Sunwoo! At least do it for your own safety!” He whined.

“Your faith in your hyung’s driving abilities is really comforting.” He responded dryly. He actually genuinely forgot to put on the seatbelt when he was forced into the passenger seat, and when he wanted to put it on Eric started pestering him. He instinctually argued and now he was going to die on this hill out of principle.

Eric spluttered at his words as Younghoon shot him a offended look. “You really doubt me so much Eric?”

“What?! _No_ -“

“What would Sangyeon say?” Chanhee joined in, his smirk barely visible behind his phone screen.

“Why are you all ganging up on me?!-“

“Because you doubted my superb driving abilities!” Younghoon raised his voice in obvious mock offense, hiding his smile.

He chuckled, the quiet sound drowned out by Eric’s spluttering. He forced his face to smoothen out immediately after, which was arguably harder than normal, and raised a unimpressed eyebrow at him in the rearview mirror.

“You never doubt your hyungs Blondie, even I know that.” He muttered loudly, making a show of rolling his eyes. He ignored the two shocked looks burning into him. He would _never_ let go of an opportunity to make fun of Eric.

“ _What_?! You’ve haven’t respected anyone since you stepped foot over the threshold.” He smirked at the shrill tone. “And don’t act so high and mighty! You look younger than me!”

“Well you see Blondie, I live by the principle that respect should be _earned_ and-“ He paused when he finally processed the rest of the sentence and whipped around.

“Fuck you, you’re probably a _baby_ compared to me.”

Eric, honest to god, laughed and sat up straight, obviously challenging him.

“2000,” His eyebrow ticked the tiniest bit, and he saw Younghoon smirk in his peripheral, “twenty-second…,” he was about to hit him, he did _not_ want to be younger than him, “of December.”

He blinked at him for a second before a gigantic smirk crossed his face. Eric’s disappeared like snow before the sun.

“You’re older?” he asked shakily, and Chanhee badly disguised a laugh as a cough.

“Same year,” He admitted, for reasons unknown trying to soften the blow, “But April twelfth.”

He slumped before his eyes brightened again, and Sunwoo leaned backwards. By know he knew when Eric was going to scream and he actually appreciated his eardrums, thanks.

“That means we’re sam!-“

“Shut it you-“

“It doesn’t matter anyway,” Younghoon interrupted them in a loud voice, “We’re here.”

He gulped silently at the large structure looming over them as Younghoon parked the car. He had seen a lot of these buildings while he was on the street, but he still wasn’t used to these _modern_ structures. Some of them looked eerily similar to the monsters his mom used to scare him with when he was being a little shit.

His head snapped over towards the window as someone knocked on it. “You coming grump?”

He glared at Younghoon and opened the car door, hitting him with it on his way out.

~

He spluttered the tiniest bit as Chanhee shoved a pink monstrosity in front of him, _again_ , the very fuzzy sleeve almost ending up in his mouth. Don’t get him wrong, there was nothing wrong with pink, but this was _hot_ pink of all colors.

“I think this will suit him.” Chanhee announced, getting the attention of the other two people in their little party.

Younghoon gave him short once over, ignoring his obviously disgusted look and nodded. “He can pull it off.”

“If you think I’-“

“-maybe we should look for clothing that’s more to _his_ taste instead of yours hyung.” Eric interrupted him, snatching the hideous sweater away from him before he ripped it apart.

Chanhee gaped at him for a second. Younghoon looking just as offended behind him with an armful of even _more_ bright clothes.

“For once blondie is actually right.” He muttered, checking his nails.

He missed the guilty looks Younghoon and Chanhee shared as he stared down at his nails, Eric looking very proud beside him. He really needed to cut his nails, maybe Hannie had some time when they got back.

“Why don’t you browse around for a bit and meet us at the changing rooms when you’re ready?” Chanhee finally suggested, pushing Younghoon and his bright clothes away. Chanhee stopped his complaining with a firm whack to the head and Sunwoo didn’t even hold back his pleased little smile at that.

He brushed his hair back, willfully forgetting about the third party who was going to join the other two any minute now. He deserved some alone time browsing, maybe getting clothes he actually liked for a change.

He clenched his jaw, his brow moving the slightest bit as a sharp pain ran throughout his entire jaw. He forcefully relaxed his face, resisting holding his now slightly aching jaw as _someone_ still hadn’t moved from his side.

_Guess I’ll have to stop doing that_

“Do tell me Blondie,” He started, secretly pleased when Eric almost jumped to attention, “ _why_ you are still here?”

He gaped for a solid second before huffing and, honest to god, pouting. He probably thought he was being cute, like being cute would affect him, _puh-_ lease. When he saw his act wasn’t working he huffed again and crossed his arms, acting mad but failing to hide his upturning lips.

“We actually aren’t allowed to leave you alone, Professor still considers you a flight risk.”

He huffed out a laugh at that.

“I thought you knew me better than that Blondie,” He ignored his spluttering, “like I would leave Hannie-hyung behind.” He scoffed.

He barely stopped himself from clenching his jaw again and had to resist the urge to turn around and check Eric’s expression. He hadn’t meant to say that out loud. Damn it, did he really foil his plans to _Blondie_ of all people?!

“Well? Are you coming or not?” He snapped, forcefully changing the subject.

He ignored his spluttering yet again and rushed away from the bright abominations Chanhee dragged them to. He sighed out a quiet breath in relief as he finally left the ‘happy’ colors behind him.

He turned around when he heard a huff behind him and saw Eric obviously trying to hold back a grin. He simply raised an eyebrow and started looking through the nearest collection of hoodies, no one could honestly ever have enough hoodies.

“What?”

“I should’ve guessed you had an emo aesthetic,” he paused his browsing and levelled him with an unimpressed look, “everything makes sense now.”

He stared at him for another second before grasping the first hoodie he could and throwing it at his head.

Eric barely jumped out of the way, just on the verge of using more speed than normal, and still got a sleeve to the face for his efforts.

He squawked but still managed to catch the shirt, barely. The employee behind him breathed a sigh of relief.

~

“What the fuck?”

Chanhee’s exclamation got the attention of Younghoon, who was busy arranging the clothes they picked out with, blessedly, only a few bright items.

“What?” Eric questioned innocently, barely peering over the pile of clothes in his arms.

“Please tell me that you at least picked _one_ other color than black?” Chanhee begged.

“I’m pretty sure we picked some dark grey too.” Eric cheerfully replied, dumping the small mountain of clothes right on top of their pile.

Chanhee pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed, not even hiding his annoyance. He _knew_ it was a bad idea to leave Eric alone with Sunwoo, if not for the fact that Sunwoo always looked one second away from punching his lights out, Eric couldn’t refuse him anything. It was almost as bad as Younghoon at this point. Don’t think he didn’t notice Younghoon smuggling all those books for three days straight.

“Younghoon, take Eric and go look at some socks and underwear. Eric, I trust you know his size. Sunwoo, get in the damn dressing room.” Eric saluted him and Younghoon sent him an almost unnoticeable glare. He raised an unimpressed eyebrow. Sunwoo didn’t need a simp’s opinion, he needed someone to tell him if he actually good or not.

Sunwoo grumbled but walked into the dressing room they had kept occupied while Sunwoo was browsing. He sighed again when he saw all the black and picked some of his own chosen items with a few of Sunwoo’s before handing them to him through the small sliver Sunwoo left open.

“Don’t just put it on and look for yourself, I wanna see if we got the right sizes.” Chanhee warned him, ignoring the small huff he got in return.

He sat down next to the small mountain of clothes and kept watch over the door from the corner of his eye. The little shit was not gonna get away with slipping away from, and he knew exactly what kind of clothes he had given him and he wanted to check _each_ piece. If he was going to spend the next unforeseeable future with them he was at least going to spend it well dressed.

He was just about to reply to a text from Hyunjae, _again_ , when the changing room opened and a annoyed red head stood before him, arms crossed.

He tsked when he saw he only tried on the clothes he personally picked out, but nodded appreciatively when everything fitted. He was lucky they went now, Sunwoo was slowly gaining back what he assumed was his former physique, thanks to the combined help of Jeonghan and Jacob. The tight black t-shirt stretched well over his broad shoulders, and he was pleasantly surprised to see his waist was smaller than he thought. The dark grey jeans fit almost perfectly and hugged his thighs well. All in all he looked pretty good. Now if only he finally got that haircut his brother has been nagging him about.

_Now I see why Younghoon has been so preoccupied lately, he’s actually pretty cute._

“’Normal people scare me’?” He read out loud, standing up to inspect the outfit from close by.

He was surprised to hear a amused huff leave him. “I have an certain aesthetic I need to upkeep, apparently.” He answered vaguely before moving back to the changing room. Chanhee chuckled but didn’t stop him, sliding his phone in his pocket as he waited for Sunwoo to finish putting on his new outfit.

Sunwoo was nearly through the third and last pile when Younghoon and Eric came back, both with an armful of what Chanhee asked for prior. He raised an eyebrow when he saw the, the _variety_.

At his look Eric chuckled awkwardly. “We wanted to give him some options, he really liked picking out his own clothes.” Eric said quietly.

He nodded, trying to ignore his heart warming at the words. He gestured for the boys to put their findings on the last few chairs available and then sent them off to find a place to eat. Eric complained but Younghoon pulled him along, he mentally thanked his perceptive best friend before taking his seat again.

He almost jumped when the door opened with a loud _creak_ , Sunwoo stepping out with a ridiculously large hoodie and some sweatpants. Chanhee moved behind him as he stood in front of the mirror.

“This is too big, maybe we should look for different si-“

“ _No!_ ” Chanhee started at the sudden shout, meeting Sunwoo’s equally wide eyes. He awkwardly cleared his throat as he continued. “I like it, it’s soft.”

He bit back his smile, ignoring the small needle sticking itself further into his little heart. How bad did he have it for him to be so desperate for a soft hoodie?

“Alright then, put it on the pile with clothes you want and we’ll go.”

Sunwoo didn’t look at him but nodded, fingers still gently caressing the hoodie. Chanhee forced himself to turn away and called some workers over to help them with their new wardrobe. Chanhee made sure to slip him an outfit so that he didn’t look like a random hoodlum wandering around in ill-fitting or ripped clothes.

“Hurry up Sunwoo, we have one more stop to make before we meet Eric and Younghoon for lunch.”

~

“Where _are_ they?!”

Eric whined for the hundred time in a span of five minutes. Younghoon sighed and looked up towards the sky, praying to whatever was up there for a little more patience.

“Calm down, they’ll be here in a sec, Chanhee said that there was a problem at the clothing store.” Younghoon explained again, his eye ticking as Eric wailed right through him.

“But I’m hungry hyung! I’m a growing boy, I need my nutrients!”

Younghoon snorted. “Sorry to break it to you, but the time for grow spurts has long since passed.”

Eric glared at him but finally shut up, sliding down in his chair. He grumbled inaudibly to himself, and Younghoon didn’t have the energy to even start to discern what he was saying. A small smile slid over his features as Eric tugged the two shopping bags a little closer to him, holding them protectively with a frown on his face.

He checked his phone again, swiping away a text from Hyunjae and went to his and Chanhee’s thread instead. He pursed his lips at the unanswered messages. It was weird for Chanhee to not answer, he was practically glued to his phone every minute of the day. He did believe Sunwoo wouldn’t hurt Chanhee, but Sunwoo was a wildcard on a _good_ day. He cast another look around the plaza, checking for his friend’s light pink sweater but coming up empty again. Maybe he should’v-

“There you guys are!”

He had to physically stop himself from whipping around, masking his worry. He sighed as Eric, of course, did no such thing and sprang up, rushing with almost inhuman speed towards to the two.

He rolled his eyes, sharing a look with Chanhee as he turned to scold him. The little shit _knew_ he wasn’t supposed to use his powers outside of the institute, when he finally locked eyes with Sunwoo.

The first thing he noticed was that he could actually _see_ his eyes, and his gaze shot up towards his hair, his mouth dropping at the sight. The messy bird nest, which he _somehow_ still pulled off, was a _whole_ lot shorter. His hair was a flaming red now instead of the muted mess he had before, and was cut in short bowl cut, parted in the middle so you could _finally_ see his forehead. Younghoon bit the inside of his cheek as he spotted the beginnings of a undercut, much like his own. He let his eyes stray and gulped at his clothes, his figure finally shining through as he wore clothing that actually fit him. He was wearing a simple red tight shirt and black pants with rips at the knees, and was that _chain_?-

“-hoon! Younghoon!” he was rudely pulled from his thoughts as Chanhee yelled at him, his hand raised and ready to hit him.

“What?” He snapped, smacking the hand away before it could touch him.

“I was asking what you thought of Sunwoo’s outfit, but I guess I already got my answer…” He trailed off smugly, walking into the small food court. Eric send him a shit eating grin before following after him. He sighed and rubbed the back of his neck.

“And here I thought you actually had a grasp on your emotions.” Sunwoo snarked, an amused smirk pulling at his lips.

A small bout of annoyance shot through him, both at the remark and the fact Sunwoo looked even better smirking now, before he shook himself out of it.

“Well, some things just need to be admired in silence.”

Sunwoo’s smirk vanished and he clenched his jaw, his eyebrow jumping up before he unclenched it again. If he had blinked he would’ve missed the micro-expressions.

_Interesting_

He huffed, tilting his head with his smirk back in place. “Cheesy lines don’t work on me Ice-Man, maybe you should put in a little more effort.”

Younghoon let out a surprised laugh, quickly moving to open the door before he could. So Sunwoo wanted him to put in more effort? Alright.

“I’d say they work a _little_ ,” At Sunwoo’s unimpressed eyebrow raise he elaborated, “I just got a nick-name upgrade, grump.”

He frowned at him before realization set in. He was trying his hardest to hide it, and he was mostly successful, but his eyes gave it away. Especially now that one could actually _see_ them.

He sighed and rolled his eyes, looking even more unimpressed if that was possible. “Maybe it’s an upgrade for _you_.”

Younghoon smiled teasingly but moved out of the way when Sunwoo started for the door. He held it open for him and waved one hand out in a somewhat flamboyant gesture, even for him. Sunwoo eyed him for a second before shaking his head and walking ahead.

But Younghoon stopped him at the threshold with a simple tug at one of belt loops, maybe using a little more strength than necessary to yank him a little bit closer to him. He didn’t flinch, even putting his hands in his pockets in a relaxed fashion. But his shoulders stiffened the tiniest bit before relaxing.

“Nice hair-cut by the way, red’s really your color.” He breathed right in his ear.

He grinned when Sunwoo shuddered the tiniest, his ears turning red. He let himself be shoved away and watched with an amused smile as Sunwoo angrily took his seat next to Eric, ignoring the way the blond lit up at that.

_He’s gonna regret telling me to put in more effort_

He finally stepped over the threshold, taking his seat next to Chanhee, ignoring his raised brow.

They both missed the dark figure slipping away the second the door closed behind them. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> YES I AM LATE I HAD A WRITERS BLOCK SHUT UP
> 
> and did you know angst and action is much easier to write than fluff????
> 
> aanndd what did you guys think of the chapter, i know it's not my best work but i did my best?? Leave your thoughts and predictions in the comments, i literally live for them.
> 
> Have a good day wherever you are!!
> 
> -Pixie

**Author's Note:**

> If you guys liked this leave a comment on what you expect to happen next!! Comments really give me the drive to write!!


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